Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Fire, the Goblets on Fire V20
by 123irish
Summary: A re-writing of my original. I have all the chapters finished and will be delivering them about once a week for the next eight weeks. I hope everyone likes it?
1. Chapter 1

**A/** **N:** This is not so much a rewrite as it is a review and revision (fine, it's a rewrite, do you always have to be right!) of what I started writing. I've added/taken out a bit, and tried to correct most of the spelling and punctuation problems (I know you'll still find things wrong, but hopefully not as much as before). This will be posted as a complete story with eight chapters, my main sticking point was how to finish it up and I think I've come up with a novel approach.

For those who have started reading this already, you may want to skip ahead, (or start all over and find what was added/removed) you should be able to start on chapter five. Otherwise, welcome to the nightmare that is my mind. Please, as always, keep your hands and feet inside the ride until it comes to a complete and full stop, thank you for riding and please read and review. It's always good to hear what the washed and educated think.

There is one other "thing" I'd like to address, and that is I use Google Search in this story, I know it wasn't available yet but since this story is Alternate Universe (as almost all Harry Potter Fan Fiction is) Google Search is indeed available then and had been for quite a while. Thank you for understanding.

123irish

HarryPotterismygodhahahaonlyjokingbutmagicisreallyreal

It was only the first week of vacation and Hermione was already hard at work on her pet project, she wanted to know all she could about the different levels of Magical society. She was in her bedroom sitting cross-legged on her Hello Kitty bedspread with her laptop on her knees. She was reading everything she could find on the Most Ancient and Most Noble Houses of which, to her surprise, she knew members of all the surviving original seven. Of the Original Seven, the Emery and Pendragon lines were presumed extinct while the Stewart line became the Royal Family. Of the other four she knew the Longbottoms (Neville and his Grandmother), Bones (Susan and her Aunt ), Blacks (Sirius, the last Black) and most surprising the Potters (Harry being the last of his family). What had come as an even bigger surprise was when, in the section for Ancient Family's, she had run into the Granger name; something she would have to bring up to her parents the next time they visited Gringotts.

What she found odd was, that for all their posturing, both the Dumbledore's and the Weasley's were only Noble Family's and the Dumbledore's only receiving this Honor due to Albus's feats. The funniest thing she found was that the Malfoys, for all of Draco's boasting and bravado, were only considered a Clan and all their money seemed to be through their marriage with the Blacks. If it wasn't for Narcasiss Black marrying into the Malfoys they would be considered little more than a Lesser Clan in Great Britain with only slightly better status than a Mundane-Born. In France (the Malfoys country of origin) they had been an Ancient Family having lost Noble status three hundred years earlier for "Acts of Treason", and at that time having to flee France (who still had Execute on Sight orders for any Malfoy crossing into, under, over or through their country) for England.

Hermione had found all this out after she had become irritated at Mrs. Baumgarten, the Squib that ran the Magical section of her local library. Hermione was told that she (Hermione) had already gone through everything that was currently in the library on the subject and that she (Mrs. Baumgarten) couldn't get any more information at this time. Once back home, and on a lark, Hermione typed "Magi-pedia" into Google Search, and surprisingly it turned out to be a genuine site. The author being one G. Ringotts with a contact address of Diagon Alley dot Mag (you know the drill by now), something else she would be asking the Goblins about before the summer was over. Since the discovery of the site she had barely slept (only seven hours a night, for shame) and had been reading and printing reams of pages to share with Harry when they got together later in the summer at the Burrow.

She caught herself remembering the daring escape of Sirius Black that She and Harry had perpetrated, and of riding on the Hippogriff with Harry. Even though she hated flying Hermione could not think of a better moment then being in the air with her arms wrapped around Harry's waist and her face pressed in his back, she felt… safe. Shuddering slightly with a faint smile on her lips, Hermione knew that she would have to make the first move, even if she was fairly certain that he felt the same way. She knew his upbringing at his Aunt and Uncles house would not allow him to share these emotions with her until he was one hundred percent certain that she liked him as well, and maybe not even then. His "Family" had really done a number on Harry's emotional growth.

Harry sat on his bed and turned his attention to the cat door as he heard his Aunt pull the bolt, unlocking the flap and sliding a plate with a stale piece of bread and an open can of mushroom soup (condensed and unheated without a spoon of course) through. At least they had removed the bars from the window and were not starving him as much this summer, and they did let him out to use the bathroom three times a day.

As he used the last of the bread to get as much of the soup out of the can as he could, his thoughts went to Hermione and how good it had felt when they had flown on Buckbeak and she had held on to him tightly. She had always given him bone crushing hugs, but this was different, if he didn't know she liked Ron he would have found a way to let her know how much he liked her. If he closed his eyes he could still remember her scent, honeysuckle shampoo and the smell of old books and parchment.

He was brought out of his musings by the pecking on his window from Hedwig; he opened the window and allowed the snowy owl to hop on his arm before taking her over to the perch and untying the note around her leg.

Dear Harry,

I know it's only been three days since the end of the school year, but I've already found out some very good information, actually way more than I thought even possible, that I will share with you once we see each other at the Burrow. How are the Dursley's treating you?

Have you even started your homework or are you going to pull a Ron and wait for me to help? Tell you what, you start it and I'll go over it with you and help make it better if it needs it. Anyway, I really miss you and can't wait the three weeks until I can talk to you in person and show you what I have found.

Love Hermione

PS, How does Hedwig know when I need to send you a letter and that it's okay for me to use her?

Harry smiled as he folded the note up and stuck it beneath the loose floorboard under the bed with the rest of his treasures. He then went to his desk and pulled out a pen and paper to write back to her.

Hermione,

Great to hear from you already, I hope you don't mind the regular paper and that I'm using a ballpoint pen to write this? I've decided that I'm bringing several note pads and packages of pens with me next school year as it should make taking notes easier. I'll still use parchment and quills (maybe a fountain pen, with the correct nib they write just like quills) as required for our homework but it's ridiculous to take notes with the stuff. Someone has to begin to bring the Magical World, kicking and screaming, into the 20th Century and if they want me to fight their war for them (the whole Boy-What-Lived thing) they're going to have to give me some concessions!

I am eagerly awaiting the information that you found and can't wait to get out of here (Durskaban) and be with my friends. To answer your other questions, no I have not started my homework yet but will, at the very least, have rough outlines done as to what I want to say so you can check those for me, thanks in advance.

As for Hedwig, she's just a very special owl and I told her that you can use her whenever you need her. She really likes you as you are the only other person she nips on the ear.

The "family" is treating me okay, I'm getting three meals (notice I said nothing about them being square) a day at least and the rest of the time they pretend I don't exist, so I guess there is an upside to every situation. So stay out of trouble (as if Hermione Granger actually gets into trouble) and I'll be seeing you soon.

Harry

Harry reread the letter before sealing the envelope and asking Hedwig if she would be able to deliver it later tonight. With a soft cooing sound Hedwig nodded a yes and tucked her head under her wing to get a couple hours of sleep before her nightly hunt.

Ron had it all figured out, since Dumbledore was allowing him to have Hermione as a reward for his help in controlling Harry, he was going to solidify his "claim" and make his move this summer when she came to visit. Ron was was going to ask Hermione to be his girlfriend. She was bound to say yes, he was Ron Weasley after all, (she'd just be glad someone liked her) and as Hermione always came to the Borrow several days before Harry, he (Ron) would be able to rub Harry's nose in the fact that he had a girlfriend. Even if it was only Hermione, and she was only going to be a practice girlfriend (not that he REALLY needed the practice, come on, he WAS Ron Weasley for crying out loud) until something better came along. The "Great" Harry Potter would still be single, alone and even easier to manipulate.

Merlin, if he wasn't being paid to be Harry's friend there's no way he be anywhere near the attention seeking, no make that DANGER seeking, prat. He figured that with the hundred galleons a month, he laughed as he remembered when he found out that he was being paid from Harry's own account, he was getting that he was one of the wealthiest teens, Wizard or Mundane, there was (poor, deluded, stupid, mono-brow, lazy..., sorry I kind of got carried away there for a moment, bastard even at an exchange of five to one he'd of only had about twenty thousand pounds which is a good amount just not a GREAT amount). What he so often forgot was that at any given time he only had a couple of hundred (at most, and often much less) Galleons in the bank from all the Chuddly Cannon crap he bought and the amount of food, sweets in particular, he inhaled? Ron was into Instant Gratification and had learned nothing from his family's present plight, he would never be a saver.

Molly Weasley, on the other hand, had taken the thousand galleons a month since Harry's birth and squirreled it away. This was her money for continuing to allow Arthur to touch her and for her to have more children until she had a girl that would marry into the Potter line; and nobody knew about or touched a bloody Knut of it but her. Dumbledore had begun paying her (eventually out of Harry's Trust Account) as soon as he found out that Lilly was having a boy, she was disappointed when she had Ron and not Ronda, but had cut Arthur off completely as soon as she found out she was carrying Ginerva.

As soon as Molly told Dumbledore she was having a girl he had written up a betrothal contract between the two children and had forged James and Lily's signatures. As Molly forged Arthur's signature on the contract she was awash in euphoria, she finally had a daughter to dote on and the Heir to the Potter fortune all in one shot. She knew that she would have to start feeding Ginny stories of the "Boy-What-Lived" as soon as possible to make sure she knew and understood her destiny was to be Mrs. Harry Potter. If everything went as she and Dumbledore planned, Harry Potter might make his seventeenth birthday but by then Ginny would be carrying his child and his money would already be theirs.

Dumbledore sat in the Headmasters office at Hogwarts with a smug expression (as if he had any other type of expression) on his face. Everything had gone as planned so far, he had led Harry through three years of school. He had guided him to the Stone through traps that Grabbe and Goyle could have figured out. Then in Harry's second year things got a little complicated and slightly out of hand as he had not only confronted the Basilisk and survived but had killed the blasted beast as well. The strangest thing was that nobody even questioned why they had to wait for the schools supply of Mandrake to mature and didn't just go out and buy some to create an antidote. Now this last year had been the hardest yet, not only arranging for Black to get that newspaper with the picture of Peter in it, but also to escape as well. He hadn't counted on Black trying to contact the brat but even that eventually worked in his favor.

Dumbledore knew what Harry was going to do almost before Harry did, what with the liberal application of tracking charms on almost everything Harry owned and with Ron letting him know every move that was being made it was all too easy. The only problem was Harry's growing dependence on the Granger girl and his reliance on her advice; he'd have to break up Harry and Hermione's friendship. Well she was only a "mudblood", and since he was "gifting" her to Ron Weasley anyway what would be the harm in starting the administering of the loyalty and love potions a year early.

He'd just have to let Molly know to start the dosing as soon as she got to the Burrow this summer. He'd step up Harry's as well; it was never too early for "true love" to bloom between him and Ginny. Yes, it could only help him to have his timetable moved forward a year. Soon he'd have his hands on all the Potter wealth not just the pittance that was Harry's trust fund; after all it was for "The Greater Good".

Griphook grabbed the summary pages he'd printed and made his way to the Directors office. Reaching the ornately carved double doors of the Office he told the guards that he had an appointment to see Director Ragnok. The guard on his left nodded and, opening the door just enough to stick his head in, announced Griphook.

Griphook entered the office; it really was more of a throne room with a large desk and a high-backed, throne like, chair on a raised dais at the far end and a very large conference table in the middle. Griphook proceeded to the chair to the right of Ragnok and began his report. The hits on the Magi-pedia web site had steadily grown over the first three years they had run it. Ninety percent of the traffic was Mundane Born with nine percent Half-Bloods and one percent accidental hits by Mundanes who considered it nothing more than a joke site put up to try and take advantage of gullible people. Pure-Bloods were still ignorant of the site and most things Mundane. With their tracking software he had good news to report, one of their main "targets" had been visiting the site regularly since the end of the school year and he had been mining her data to subtlety lead her to where the Director hoped she would find the proper information.

When Griphook learned she had found the Ancient House of Granger he had the Inheritance Department run a Family Line test on stored blood (as unethical as that is the Goblins liked to know who they were dealing with) and found that Hermione Jane Granger was indeed the last of that Ancient House. Since she would be the 50th generation of witch or wizard, with the clean record of the Grangers, Noble status and a seat in the Wizengomot was assured.

Griphook also informed the Director that Miss Granger had been printing all the information she could find on the Most Ancient and Most Noble Houses paying close attention to their other hopeful Harry James Potter (the Goblins had heard rumors of the close friendship between Hermione and Harry and believe that setting yourself up now for success in the future was essential). Griphook suggested that it may be time to contact Mr. Potter and see if a meeting could be arranged, maybe intimating that he should bring someone with him for advice and as a sounding board. Director Ragnok agreed and dismissed Griphook telling him that he would write the letter to Mr. Potter personally.

Harry had been awakened that morning by Hedwig lightly nipping his ear to get Harry's attention. Harry instinctively reached to his bed side table and gave the owl a couple of treats before sliding the letter off her leg. He reached for his glasses at the same time as he sat up and as the world came in to focus opened the latest letter from Hermione.

Dear Harry,

Just wanted to keep you up to date as to what I've been doing. The research is going very well; I think that you will be happy with what I've found. On a different note, have you been talking to Ron? I've received several letters from him and while that is unusual in itself, what has been bothering me are the darker undertones I've gotten from his letters.

He is writing as if I am his property, telling me what we'll be doing for the rest of the summer and how I should act around his family and friends. Speaking of which, he has been trying to lead me into spending less time with you and suggesting that you are a bad influence for the two of us.

Harry let me be brutally honest, if it was not for the fact that Ron is your friend, because of the way he has and still does treat me I would have nothing to do with Ronald "The Human Garbage Disposal" Weasley.

He's a nice boy (and I do mean boy, I'm not sure he'll ever grow up. Sometimes he acts worse than Malfoy) when he wants to be but that isn't often enough. I do like a guy in our year though, I know you know who it is and if you give it a little thought I bet you can come up with his name.

 _ **I love you**_ ,

Hermione

Harry was pretty slow when it came to girls, but even he didn't need to be beat over the head with a heavy rock and shown the neon flashing picture of Hermione to figure out what Hermione was hinting at with that last line and the sign off (for those slow on the uptake, she was obviously trying to tell him she was deeply in love with Neville Longbottom... or possibly Luna Lovegood, maybe Moaning Myrtle, it really is confusing and I am just a simple guy after all?). A smile crossed his lips as he thought about him and Hermione kissing, it turned into a frown as he thought about Ron's reaction. Harry was brought out of these musings as a rather large crow swooped in through the open window and landed beside Hedwig on her perch.

The instant Harry released the bundle it was carrying the crow flew back outside and was gone. The package had the Gringotts symbol on it and contained a letter and a long, slim box; The letter was addressed to Harry J. Potter, Durskaban, Smallest bedroom with the broken desk, looking around to find where the cameras were hid, he cautiously broke the seal of the letter and began to read.

Master Harry James Potter,

It has come to our attention that there is some business that needs your direct involvement here at Gringotts. Please find enclosed a reusable two-way portkey, the activation word is "Snorack". Please use this at your earliest convenience, it is suggested that you bring someone you trust to act as an advisor with you. I'm sorry We can't give you any further information at this point in time as the situation is of a sensitive nature.

Director of Gringotts and King under the Bank of the Goblin Nation,

Ragnok

Harry opened the box and found that the portkey was a Golden Eagle feather, and knew that as soon as he got to the Burrow he would have to let Hermione know, as she was the only person he trusted enough to want to take with him as an advisor and confidant. Smiling as he remembered Hermione's letter, he also vowed to ask her to be his girlfriend as well.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** This just popped into my head; and now something from Billy Joel, "It's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete when I wore a younger man's clothes". Thanks, I'm not sure where that came from and I couldn't figure out where to use it in the story but it had to be written. Thank you for indulging my insanity, and now back to our regularly scheduled program already in progress.

HarryPotterismygodhahahaonlyjokingbutmagicisreallyreal

Something had happened, but Harry wasn't sure what yet. Mr. Weasley had retrieved him from the Dursley's and was just explaining to him about getting the tickets to the Quidditch World Cup as they entered the Weasley home. Harry was distracted by raised voices coming from above him, he then heard a slap and several seconds later the unmistakable sound of a trainer connecting to a groin, followed by a groan and a thud as if someone had fallen heavily to the floor.

As he started up the stairs he was met by an obviously distraught and furious Hermione coming down, moving fast and crying. She pushed past Harry and continued out of the house and into the surrounding countryside. Harry didn't wait for an explanation as he turned and followed her out the door; he caught up to her about a mile from the house sitting under a big tree with her head between her knees. "Hermione", Harry said softly as he came to within a few feet of her, "What happened"? "GO AWAY" she yelled bitterly without raising her head, "Just go away Harry, if you want to know what happened then go ask your FRIEND. I can't take anymore today"! Her voice had dropped to barely a whisper.

Harry placed a hand under her chin and gently brought her head up so that he could look into her eyes and that's when he saw the hand print on her left cheek. As he ran his fingers lightly over her cheek, "Hermione, YOU are my friend, please tell me what happened, I've just arrived and I find you running away from the Burrow and crying. Please tell me so I can try to make some sense of it and try to set things right. Other then my parents not being here, nothing hurts me more than the sight of you crying and I hope to never see you cry again. I've been thinking about my feelings and I believe there are things you need to hear that may help you smile again. One of the reasons I came for you during first year was because I didn't want anything bad to happen to such a cute girl. I remember you barging into the car on the train looking for Trevor, and my first thoughts were that even though you seemed rather bossy and pushy that you were very cute. That day with the troll, I know I should have defended you sooner from Ron but everything happened so fast that the next thing I knew you were gone and we had to get to our next class. I should have gone looking for you then, I'm sorry I didn't.

Did you know that in second year, the whole time you were petrified, the only time I left your side was when Madame Pomfrey kicked me out of the hospital to eat a meal or bathe and when I went to deal with the creature; I couldn't stand having to leave your side for even a minute. Then last year when you were riding behind me on Buckbeak, I never wanted the feeling of your arms around me to end; I should have used some of that Gryffindor courage that night".

"Now I find you crying and it's breaking my heart, Hermione... I um... Iloveyou". Then with more confidence then he felt, "Hermione, you were the first person to show me any affection with your patented Hermione Hugs, which are now legendary by the way. You were the first to see past the whole Boy-What-Lived crap and see the real me. How could I not fall in love with you? I Love You Hermione Jane Granger, please tell me what happened".

Hermione had stopped crying almost as soon as she looked into the deep green of his emerald eyes and by the time he had finished his speech she did the only thing she could think of and wrapped her hands around his head and pulled him into a deep kiss only broken when the need for oxygen over rode the bliss of their first kiss. "Hermione Jane Granger would you please do me the pleasure and honor of being my girlfriend" Asked a very breathless Harry? Hermione, also out of breath, just nodded yes while being helped to her feet and sharing another brief kiss with Harry.

They had sat back down in the shade of the tree, "Oh Harry", she said snuggling into his side and resting her head on his chest, "Everything started out so normally, I'd been at the Burrow for the last couple of days and except for some weirdness from Ron things seemed to be going well. Then, this morning, I woke up early and was coming down the stairs to see if I could help Mrs. Weasley with breakfast when I saw her mixing a potion into the apple juice. Harry, nobody else at the Borrow drinks apple juice so I knew it was going into my drink. I quietly hurried back upstairs and waited for Ron to wake up and when I told him what I had seen all he did was laugh".

"He grabbed my arm and said that it was about time, and that if I had done any real research into the Magical World I would of known that as a mudblood I didn't and wouldn't have any rights. He said that Dumbledore was going to allow him to "claim" me so that he had someone to do his homework for him, and that the potions would just make it easier on me to adjust to the way magical society worked. The Pure Blood Families, like his and Draco's, run everything and use the mudbloods as hard labor or worse, that's why ninety percent of all Mundane born witch's and wizards return to Mundane Society after Hogwarts. He said that there wasn't even anything you could do about it, being a Half Blood you were only slightly better off than myself. He started laughing again and said that he was being paid to be your friend, from your own Trust Fund, and that everything you do is being controlled by Prof. Dumbledore. He slapped me when I threatened to tell you and turned to go back down the stairs. All I saw was red and I kicked him so hard. I actually wanted to kick him in the head, but I hit a lot lower and a lot harder", she snickered a little at the last comment.

As Harry listened his hands were clenched in fists of rage and the tree they were sitting under began to smoke as the magic rolled off Harry in visible waves. A mile away at the Burrow every pane of glass, bowl, cup, saucer and plate crumbled into dust that no magic could ever fix. In another home, in the opposite direction and strangely shaped like a piece from a chess set, sat a very strange, very pretty thirteen year old girl that spoke to nobody in particular "Harry Potter most regain control of his emotions". As if she heard this, Hermione did the only think she could think of to distract Harry, she kissed him once again. She was sure that without this last kiss Harry would have caused the tree they were under to not only continue to smoke but to burst into flames as well.

Now that he had regained his composure, Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the box with the portkey and looking at Hermione explained to her, "Gringotts contacted me a few weeks ago and wanted to have a meeting, I've put it off, wanting to wait until I came here as I was going to ask you to come along as my advisor. I think that today may have just been the topper on the cake and after everything that has happened I think we should go now. Hermione please touch the feather and hold on tight". As she touched the feather Harry took her other hand and said the activation word "Snorack", they were pulled away from the Burrow and towards Gringotts Bank.

Arthur Weasley just stood in shock at having Hermione then Harry run out of his house, but didn't have long to wait for an explanation as Ron limped down the stairs holding his bits, (surprisingly, for as small as they were, Hermione had scored a direct hit and no girl, woman, farm animal or Garden Gnome would ever have to worry about Ron's "block and tackle" ever again) asking where the bitch mudblood was. Arthur stunned his youngest son and when Molly came in moments later asking what all the noise was he told his wife what he'd seen. Molly only shrugged and replied that she was sure that the uppity little mudblood had overstepped her boundaries and that their Little Ronnie was just helping her see the error of her ways.

Arthur stunned his wife as well and at that point had no other option than to call a Family Conclave that would cover what had gone on that day and wither they needed to contact the DMLE and get Amelia Bones involved. During the meeting he and his five oldest sons (Bill and Charlie Flooed in as a Family Conclave could only be missed by death) and only daughter swore a magical oath that they had no idea as to what their mother and brother had done and were planning to do; Arthur let out the breath that he hadn't noticed he'd been holding as everybody survived the oath.

It was decided to call in Madame Bones and the Aurors for the questioning of Molly and Ron. During the questioning it was discovered just what they had done and that they were acting on orders from Dumbledore. There was no way it could be proved though because every time either one of them had talked to Dumbledore, he had been seen by five or more people (including Madame Bones herself, she suspected that it was Snape Polyjuiced as Dumbledore at the meetings with Ron and Molly but at this time it could not be proven) at ministry functions. They were taken to the DMLE holding cells and charged with the two most serious counts of Attempted Line Theft, and just plain, simple, outright Theft. During the questioning the secret accounts of Molly and Ron were found along with the fact that both accounts were drawing from Harry's trust fund. At this point Arthur did the only thing he could, and kicked Molly and Ron out of the family, and had Bill contact his bosses at Gringotts to inform them of the fraud and have them confiscate all accounts under Molly and Ron's names for repayment back to Harry.

Because the Tracer Charms put on all Gringotts Portkeys were keyed to the maker, Griphook was made aware of who was incoming, and met Harry and Hermione in the reception area seconds after they had arrived. "Lord Potter, Lady Granger, if you will follow me, we have no small amount of business to take care of today". They followed the goblin in silence, through many long hallways, until they got to the door of the Director, "Lord Potter, Lady Granger and Griphook to see the Director, we have an appointment".

Harry didn't know why (Ancient Potter Magic perhaps), but knew that the proper way to greet the Director was for him to bow and than go to one knee Hermione mimicked this action as she was still holding Harry's hand, "Director Ragnok, King under the Bank, thank you for seeing us on such short notice". If a goblin could be seen to smile then Ragnok did so and then said "Rise Lord Potter, Lady Granger, we are all friends here and nobody bows to anyone else. I'm glad you could make it and am very pleased to see you and Lady Granger this fine day".

They took seats near the Director and Hermione spoke. "Sir, that was the fourth time I had been called Lady Granger, and while that was something I had wanted to talk to your fine establishment about it seems you have taken the lead and may have information before I ask of it". "Please do not think us to forward Lady Granger, but we monitor the traffic on a certain web site very carefully and while we did not overtly lead you to your discoveries we knew that your natural curiosity would help you find what you needed".

At this Hermione blushed as Ragnok continued, "We did use a sample of you blood from your first visit here, the name made us curious so I had them save several drops to run a Family Line Test on you, and your presumption that you could be the Heir to the Ancient House of Granger is correct. There are two surprises that come with the title, one we can tell you now, but the other has to wait until you either accept or decline your title. First, if you accept the title your status will be upgraded as you will be a 50th generation witch; your new title would be Lady Granger of the Ancient and Noble House of Granger. What say you Hermione Jane Granger, do you accept this title"? The ring for the House of Granger appeared in front of her, a gold band with an onyx stone and diamonds in the shape of a stylized "G", and as Hermione picked it up she looked at Harry who was nodding and smiling at her. The Ring seemed to know that Hermione was going to accept and passed on the knowledge of what to say.

"I, Hermione Jane Granger, by my magic do hereby claim the title of Lady Granger to the Ancient and Noble House of Granger, so Magic decrees". The ring glowed golden as it accepted the new Lady and she than turned to Ragnok and asked; "You said there was a second surprise that could only be revealed after I officially became Lady Granger, may I now know what that is"?

For the second time that day the Director was seen to smile as he pulled a parchment from a folder at his side, "I hope this will be as pleasant a surprise as becoming a Lady was. It seems that by accepting your Ladyship you have also become betrothed"! The color drained from both Harry and Hermione's faces as she asked the dreaded question, "T.. t.. to whom am I betrothed"? Ragnok handed the contract to Hermione who, with trembling hands, accepted the parchment and after reading the name of her betrothed began to cry once more.

"Hermione, who do you have to marry? Please tell me it's not Malfoy or Ron because if it is I'm going to be spending the rest of my life in Azkaban as I will kill both of them before I ever allow them to lay a finger on you". Hermione smiled at him through her tears and kissed him. "These are tears of joy this time Harry. It's you, you silly boy, you're the one I have to marry. Apparently, somewhere in the past, as payment for a debt to the Potters a betrothal contract was made and we are the first of both lines to fulfill the parameters of the contract, and since it's the oldest of all the contracts for either family it takes precedence. That is if you would like to marry me some day Harry"?

Harry turned to Ragnok, "Director is there a way for me to claim my family name and take my rightful place as head of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter and make this Betrothal official"? "Lord Potter as the last of your line you have been able to claim your title and have your parents will read since you were eleven years old, we had always been told by your guardian that it was your choice to wait until you were older".

"Guardian? No one has ever told me they were my guardian and no one has ever told me about being able to claim my title since I was eleven". Ragnok told him that Dumbledore was his guardian and had always spoken for him in any banking matters. When Harry just stared at him blankly Ragnok said he would begin an official investigation into fraud on Harry's behalf.

He then turned and ran a finger down a previously blank wall revealing a safe from which he removed a box and handed it to Harry. He opened the box and slid the Potter Family ring, a silver band with a ruby stone with the letter "P" in emeralds, onto his finger. "I, Harry James Potter, by my magic do hereby claim the title of Lord Potter to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, so Magic decrees"! The ring glowed golden as it accepted the new Lord Potter.

Harry took the betrothal contract and signed his name on the Potter Head of House line and slid it over to Hermione. As she finished signing it a silver flash blinded them all and the contract was gone but in its place Ragnok held a new piece of parchment. "Well this was most unexpected, but again a nice surprise for House Granger". "Another one Director, I'm not sure how many more my fiancé and I can handle", Hermione quirked.

Ragnok laughed, "It seems that the act of making the contract official also gave you another boost in status, with the backing of the Potters you are now Lady Hermione Jane Granger-Potter of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Granger. By both of you signing as your Heads of House you have enacted the contract and are now Husband and Wife and you have become emancipated adults in both the magical and mundane worlds, may I be the first to congratulate you both".

Hermione looked at Harry with an expression of shock but was relieved to see him smiling, almost laughing, "It was always going to be you Hermione, you are, were, and will always be the one and only girl I could ever see myself married to. This may not be the way either of us pictured it but I wouldn't want it any other way. We'll tell your parents and eventually have the magical and mundane weddings that we've always wanted".

As they kissed for the first time as a married couple, Griphook brought out the Granger Portfolio and it was discovered that on top of vault 132 which contained 500,000 Galleons and a "small" library of about 30,000 titles not to mention various knick-knacks and other house hold items. She also owned several homes including Granger Manor, the traditional seat of power for House Granger, just outside of Glasgow along with 49% of Florish and Blotts and 51% of Barnes and Noble. It seemed that the Granger's had a long and proud tradition of being "Know-It-Alls".

Ragnok then asked Harry if he would like his parents will unsealed and read, with a nod Harry agreed. When Harry heard the will of his parents he got angry with Dumbledore as he had known that Sirius was not his parents secret keeper and still let them throw him in jail; he would have to talk to Sirius about these facts.

He also found out that in addition to his trust vault there was Vault #8, the Potter Family vault which contained over 50 million Galleons and various collectibles and deeds to several dozen properties and homes, with a library of just over 20,000 titles; then there was his parents vault with about 4 million Galleons and personal items from their short marriage including their journals and personal trunks.

After visiting the vaults and having Hermione select both an engagement and wedding band from the Potter Collection (she choose the same ones as his Great Grandmother Dorea Black had years earlier) they decided they would use Hermione's Glasgow Manor as a home for the time being as neither would return to the Burrow or the Dursley's, and Harry was sure that Dumbledore knew about most if not all of the Potter properties.

Back in the Directors office Hermione wrote her parents a note that was also a portkey asking them to not return home that night but to trust their "kitten" and use the letter to meet her as she had some bad, but mostly good news to share with them.

Harry called Dobby and asked if he could deliver the letter to the Granger's at work and then collect his and Hermione's things from the Weasley's, removing any tracking charms he found on them or their things and bring them to His and Hermione's new home. Dobby agreed and promptly removed the three current tracking charms already on Harry before "popping" away to deliver the letter to the elder Granger's. Hermione shared the address of their new home with Harry before activating the portkey and reappearing at the gates of Granger Manor.

Dumbledore was enraged as he stormed down the hallways toward his office; he had spent the better part of his day getting the fool and her son out of the Ministry and into his protective custody. It had cost him most of the favors he had accumulated over his many long years, along with the support of the rest of the Weasley's and with Arthur's good friends the Aurors Mad-eye Moody (and protégé Auror Tonks) and Shacklebolt. He was sure that when this got out it would destroy the Order of the Phoenix, then who would he use as cannon fodder for his "Greater Good". He was just thinking up names for his next secret organization when he opened his office door and saw the devastation that had been inflicted upon the room. Every instrument that he had trained on Harry Potter had been destroyed beyond repair; some had sparked small fires that had scorched several ancient tomes and tapestries.

The Sorting Hat had been blown across the room and Fawkes was nowhere to be found, even calling for his companion brought no results. He had to figure that somehow Fawkes had been caught on a burning day and killed in the explosion of his office. He would have to find another "Light" animal to bind to him; maybe he'd bind a Gryffin this time around. His next thoughts were on what had happened to the tracking charms on Harry to cause them to explode and did that mean that something had happened to Harry.

He wasn't all that concerned as he had a "spare" in the Longbottom boy, but still he'd put in long hours and a large amount of time honing Harry to the point where he would willing get himself killed in order for Dumbledore to arrive after the fact and kill Tom Riddle and once again save the magical world; maybe this time he'd actually accept when they offered him the Minister for Magic position.

Dumbledore had to find out if anything had happened to Harry and his first stop would be the Dursley's. After a rather chilly reception, Dumbledore was told that Harry had gone with Arthur Weasley earlier in the afternoon and they weren't expecting to see him until after the up coming school year. Hearing the Weasley name mentioned once more, Dumbledore thought that if they hadn't reported Harry dead then he was still safely at the Burrow and maybe he'd just let Harry have his fun this summer and really apply the screws to him when school started back up in the fall.


	3. Chapter 3

Emma Granger had just finished showing her last appointment out the door and was waiting for her husband, Dan, to finish his; then they would go out to dinner before returning home and seeing what mischief they could get up to since their daughter, Hermione, would be gone for the rest of the summer.

As fun thoughts were swirling around in her head, the bell on the front door rang announcing a visitor. "Sorry", Emma said smiling at the tall, well dress gentleman that stood before her, "we're closed for the evening, unless it's an emergency, otherwise I'm sure we'll be able to fit you in early next week". "My name is Dobby, Lady Granger's mum and I've been asked to deliver a letter to you and the Lady Granger's dad" Said the tall, well dressed gentleman in a high, squeaky voice more suited to something out of a fairytale creature or cartoon character rather than a human.

"Alright, well I'm Emma Granger and my husband is Dan, maybe he knows this Lady Granger, I'll ask him in a couple of minutes. You said there was a letter, can you give it to me or do you need my husband to sign for it or something"? This seemed to catch the man off guard for a moment but he then recovered and produced an envelope with a wax seal sporting a stylized G embedded in it and handed it over to Emma. "I'll be going to report to the Lady Granger that the errand was successful", and with that he turned and left the office as quickly as he had come.

Ten minutes later, as Dan let his last patient out and locked the door, he noticed his wife was standing very close, and after drawing the blinds on the windows spun and caught Emma in a surprise hug before trying his best to kiss her senseless. Several minutes later a smiling and slightly senseless Emma pushed her husband away and took a deep breath. "Down Tiger, we'll have our fun later. This arrived for you as I was showing Miss Wilson out".

"A very tall, well dressed gentleman with a very squeaky voice delivered this letter for us from a Lady Granger, any idea who that could be"? Dan looked confused as he shook his head no and broke the wax seal on the letter. Emma was looking over his shoulder and they began to read.

Dear Mum and Dad,

I know you had plans for tonight, but something has come up and we need to talk as a family, especially you Dad, you have some explaining to do. This letter is also a portkey, a magical mode of almost instantaneous travel, and all you have to do is just trust your "kitten". I can and will explain everything when we meet. Sorry for being cryptic, but we are no longer sure who can be trusted. I love you Mum and Dad and hope to see you both soon.

Love,

Hermione

They were both holding the letter when Emma started talking, "Who's "we", and what's with the kitten comment. Anytime you would call her that she would say "Kitten, Schmitten", and at that moment both Emma and Dan disappeared from the front office of their dental practice and appeared in the foyer of Granger Manor.

Hermione and Harry appeared in front of a large wrought iron gate, tastefully overgrown with ivy and a stylized G in the center. At first all Harry could see was a dilapidated stone wall and a broken gate guarding what looked like acres of weeds and tall grass. As he concentrated on the address Hermione had told him earlier the scene changed and the true gate appeared before him as well. Hermione stepped forward and touched her Head of House ring to the symbol on the gate and as the gate disappeared she took Harry's hand and they stepped across the boundary of the property. As the gate reappear behind them, they were met immediately by an older house elf impeccably dressed in what could only be the attire of the Manors Head Elf, he introduced himself to Hermione and Harry as Kipling.

"Would Mistress and her Sir like a quick tour of the grounds before we adjourn to the main house"? "Please Kipling, when it is just us or family and friends I must insist that you call me Hermione and this is Harry. If you really can't then can you do Ms. Hermione and Mr. Harry and yes a tour of the grounds would be wonderful, thank you". "Of course Ms. Hermione, I believe that you and Mr. Harry would be more comfortable riding", and with that he snapped his fingers and a white buggy came into view pulled by two of the whitest tigers either had ever seen.

They seemed as tame as new born kittens but Kipling assured them that if there wasn't a Granger present they would defend the property from all intruders. Kipling saw the look on Harry's face and wryly noted, "Fear not Mr. Harry, as the Husband of our Lady you are protected as well". Visibly relieved, Harry leaned back in the buggy and enjoyed the scenery and Kipling's running commentary.

They rode through an exquisite flower garden and when Hermione asked about a certain flower another elf appeared, her name was Jane. Jane old Hermione that it was a hybrid orchid found only on these lands called the Granger Orchid, the last Lady of the House, Lady Danielle, had cultivated it herself.

Hermione asked Jane if it would be possible to get a mix of fresh flowers in the main house on a daily basis. Jane said that she would coordinate it with Alcott, the Manors main house elf; Kipling said he would introduce Ms. Granger to her when they toured the home.

Overall there was 50 acres of immaculately cared for lawns and gardens, a stable that housed four pure white Apollonian Stallions along with the four white tigers; and an Owlery that was the sole breeder and distributor of Snow Owls in the Magical World, this allowed them to finally understand why Hedwig liked Hermione so much, she had been born and raised at Granger Manor.

The tour continued at the Manor with Kipling handing them off to Alcott in the Grand Foyer. Alcott asked them to hold on as she felt that they should start on the third floor and with a snap she transported them there. The third floor consisted of four huge Master Suites each with it's own spacious bathroom and reading room. Any book from the main library could be transferred to one of the reading rooms by writing its name in the directory located in each room.

The second floor was more bedrooms, eight to be exact, each two joined by a Jack and Jill bathroom and each room had its own directory and reading area. The main floor contained a secure Floo entrance, the Parlor/Sitting room, Living Room, Main Library, Music/Ball Room, a Formal and Informal Dining area, a Billiard Room, the Conservatory, the Kitchen and pantries and a Study/Office for the Head of House.

Hermione felt a compulsion when she entered the Study/Office and moved over to a map of the buildings and grounds and (as if in a light trance) placed her Head of House ring against the map and declared the Wards to be in a state of "Battle Ready" the exception to the wards would be Hermione, Harry Potter, Dan and Emma Granger, Hedwig, Dobby the House Elf, the Granger House Elves and Gringotts. Anyone not following proper protocol would find themselves forcibly removed from the grounds and swimming in the North Sea, or worse mauled by (not so white after the mauling) white tigers.

A voice behind them caused the two to spin about with wands drawn. "Excellent choice Daughter of the House of Granger. Always make sure you have secured your flanks before getting too comfortable. May I ask you to please lower your wands and tell me your names. I am Daniella Granger, last Matron of this Ancient House".

They both put their wands away and bowed their heads to the grand picture of Daniella in what appeared to be the library surrounded by books. Harry whispered, "I see the Family resemblance already". Hermione elbowed him in the ribs before speaking to Daniella. "I am the newest Lady Granger, Hermione Jane Granger-Potter, and this is my husband Harry James Potter and you now have the privilege of hanging in the Manor of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Granger".

Daniella smiled, "Excellent Daughter, it is good to see not only our House active once again but a raise in rank as well. You're very young to be married, and to a Potter no less, it's good to see the conditions of the Betrothal finally met. Could you please step closer Harry", he did. "Yes, I see it now, no other family could ever produce such an unruly head of hair (Hermione couldn't stop from giggling out loud). I'll let you in on a little secret, Quentin Potter, one of your Great Uncles I'm sure, let his hair grow longer and than tied it into a ponytail and that seemed to tame it quite a bit". Winking at Hermione she added, "I bet he's good with a broomstick too, isn't he". This caused both teenagers to blush scarlet and for Daniella to laugh with a twinkle in her eye.

"Lady Daniella, we are expecting my parents soon, how would you like it if I were to send my father to you after we get settled"? "That would be lovely Lady Hermione, I take it he knew nothing of magic before you got your letter"? "That's correct, and please among family call me Hermione". "Then I'm just Daniella, Hermione". "We have a little more to see of the house, if we don't get the chance later today than we'll definitely see you tomorrow. See you later Daniella".

After the Study, the final leg of the tour was the cavernous basement where only about a quarter of it was being used and that was as a wine cellar, with everything from 25 year old Ogden's Finest Firewhiskey and the extremely rare (not for Goblins, but for Wizards and Mundanes to own) Goblin made 100 year old DragonFire Whiskey* to Château Lafitte 1787. They had just returned to the main floor when a small "pop" was heard and Dr.'s Granger arrived in the main entrance.

The first things Dan noticed were A) they had stopped spinning and he wasn't going to be sick, and B) they had landed in what appeared to be the entrance way of a very posh hotel. It had a large stylized G embedded in the floor that looked like gold leaf, but considering this was in all probability a magical dwelling it was more likely pure 24 karat gold. All Emma noticed was her daughter rounding the corner accompanied by someone who could only be Harry Potter, by all of Hermione's descriptions of him over the years, and a small, well dressed "creature" (for lack of a better word at this time, that for some reason reminded her of the Dobby character from earlier). She rushed over and embraced her Daughter.

Dan, broken out of his trance by the movement of his wife, joined her in hugging and greeting their daughter. Emma was the first to speak, "What was this letter about? Are you okay? How did we get here? Where is here? Is this the Harry you are always talking about? Who is this other "person" beside you? Who is this Lady Granger that Dobby person kept talking about, is she here now and can we meet her? Well, are you just going to stand there or do your Father and I get any answers"?

Emma just stared at her daughter with a mixture of humor, as to how she must sound, and fear that something may have happened to her little girl. Hermione just looked at Harry before laughing, "Is that what I look and sound like when I get going? No wonder everyone is always trying to get me to relax".

Harry just smiled at her as she turned to her parents, "We'll leave the letter for just a bit, but yes we are fine; you and dad got here using a magical form of travel called a portkey, it can take you most places almost instantly. It was activated when you were tricked into saying that phrase I always said after Dad called me "kitten" and it brought you here. Here is called Granger Manor and it's located just outside of Glasgow". "This isn't a hotel"?, Dan asked hesitantly. "No Dad, it's a private residence. To be more precise, it's my, well our, private residence. I'll explain more later. Finally, Mum", giving Harry's hand a squeeze, "Yes, this is the Harry I am and will always be going on about".

"This is Alcott, Alcott these are my parents Dan and Emma Granger will you please see that they are made comfortable, she is also the Head House Elf for the Manor if you need anything please let her know. Lady Granger is here and available now to explain about the letter and to answer as many questions as possible, now if you'll follow me. Alcott, could you have two Butterbeers a glass of red wine and one of the finer Scotches brought to the parlor please". With a nod and a "pop", Alcott disappeared to do her work.

With that Hermione locked arms with her parents and began leading them towards the parlor. Emma noticed Harry hanging back, "Oh no you don't", she smiled making Harry feel a little better, "I know you have a part to play in all of this, so you are coming with me mister". At that she grabbed Harry with her free arm and latched on like he was a long lost relative eliciting small laughs from both Hermione and her dad.

Tom Marvolo Riddle, better known as… (dramatic pause, then said in loud, evil, deep voice, something akin to Darth Vader) LORD VOLDEMORT... was not having a good day. He had used up a considerable portion of his magic in the construction of his new body. The new body was pathetically weak being little more that a very ugly, very tiny, baby; I mean what do you expect when you use the offspring of your familiar and the blood of your only follower to construct a new body with. He was sure that using the blood of Wormtail (Barty had not returned until they were back in Britain) had not helped in the process but only served to give him kind of a semblance of a human form.

Anyway he was getting hungry again, who knew babies were always hungry, and cranky; plus he was sure he had pooped his nappies some time ago but there was no one around to change him. On top of everything else none of his spells were working right, he wasn't even able to kill the caretaker with the Avra Kadavra. If the old man hadn't died of a heart attack, while laughing at the site of him, Tom was sure the place would be crawling with Mundane Aurors right now and he would probably have been shipped to a lab somewhere, being studied as the Worlds Ugliest Baby. "Dang golly jeepers", he thought irritably, "the rest of my plans better go off without a hitch. I have less than a year left on this body and if they fail to get me the Potter boys blood it's back to wraith form; and I swear to Merlin I'll take Barty Jr. and Wormtail with me if that happens".

The group of four entered the Parlor and found their drinks waiting for them. "I thought that Lady Granger would be here to explain what was going on", asked Emma looking around expectantly. Hermione settled into a large wing backed chair beside a large (it could of, and at one time had, been used to cook a boar in), old fashioned, fire place and smiled sheepishly at her parents, "Well, Mum she is... as of about 10 o'clock this morning I am the newest Lady Granger of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Granger".

Once Dan and Emma were able to wrap their minds around this, Hermione continued, "It all started when I woke up this morning. While Ron had been acting a little weird the past couple of days, it wasn't until I caught Mrs. Weasley putting a potion in my apple juice that things got really strange. She hadn't seen me so I went back upstairs and told Ron about what I'd witnessed, he laughed and said that since I was nothing but a mudblood and that he was going to claim me anyway, the potion was supposed to allow me to accept it better. Needless to say I did not "accept" it well and when I started to protest he slapped me. That's when I kicked him in his bits before running out of the house".

"That's kind of where I come in", said Harry, "I'd just arrived at the Burrow when Hermione ran past me. My first and only thought was to followed her outside where she eventually told me what had happened. After I cooled down a bit and asked Hermione to be my girlfriend (thankfully she said yes), I explained my need to go to Gringotts and their asking me to bring an advisor, so we decided to go then and there".

Hermione smiled at Harry and took over the story once more. "When we got there we were met by Griphook who escorted us to Ragnok, the Director of the Bank and King of the Goblins, who told me that they had done a Family Line check from a drop of stored blood and that I am the last Heir to an Ancient House, the House of Granger".

"There's more, but I think we need to question dad a second about his family history, because he's not simply a Mundane, he's a Squib". Dan Granger just stared at them in shock, "I didn't know, I now vaguely remember overhearing my great grandpa Granger tell my grandpa about things his great, great grandmother did that seemed like magic. But he was very old and I was like five, what did I know. Over the years my memory of it faded until I just forgot about the whole thing, I'm sorry Princess". "Its okay dad, none of us knew. Later I'll introduce you to a long lost relative of yours in the study, she can't wait to meet you. Harry and I need to complete our story now".

"Once I was confirmed as the newest Lady Granger we found out that there was a betrothal contract between the Granger's and the Potter's and as it was the oldest for both families it took precedent over all others. Harry and I had just started dating hours earlier and now there was a contract to take it further".

"I claimed my Head of House", Harry announced, "and signed the contract. I know it was rash, but I truly love your daughter, I should have had the courage to tell her in second year, and plan on spending the rest of my life proving it". "And that's when he handed it to me and I signed as well, what we didn't know is that because we signed it as Heads of House it also had the effect of turning the contract into a marriage license. Harry and I are emancipated and married and I am now the Lady Hermione Jane Granger-Potter of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Granger".

It took twenty minutes for Dan to come to and in that time the two teens had a chance to calm the angry Emma down and tell her why they did what they did and that there were advantages to what happened. The fact that they, as a family, now out ranked most of the people who had been trying to oppress them was one of the biggest advantages.

Once Dan was awake and calmed down it was decided that everyone would sleep on it, and Alcott led them up to their rooms. When Harry began to go into one of the other Master bedrooms Hermione grabbed his arm stopping him and reminded him that they were married now and while she wasn't ready for anything to much beyond a good snog they were going to sleep in the same bed. Harry blushed and smiled shyly as the door closed behind them.

HarryPotterismygodhahahaonlyjokingbutmagicisreallyreal

 **A/N: *** In case you were wondering about the effects of DragonFire Whiskey on the Mundane and Magical humans, they are the same as a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster: The alcoholic equivalent of a mugging – expensive and bad for the head. It's like having your brain smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick. It is the expressed view of Management that unless you are a Goblin, Dragon, or some other hardy, sentient, fairy tale creature (possibly an Ogre or the likes) that you have no more than two DragonFire Whiskeys... _**EVER... IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFETIME**_ _ **AND NEVER ONE RIGHT AFTER ANOTER. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS GIVE THE FIRST ONE SEVERAL YEARS TO WORK ITS WAY OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM**_ _ **!**_

This humble writer would like to thank the late, great and ever popular Douglas Adams and his book "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" for the above description. Also note that somewhere in this story I will be introducing a pair of Joo Janto 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses just because He made them sound so cool and because I can! Mr. Adams, you were a brilliant writer and will forever be missed, 42.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Nothing to do with the story, just a glimpse into my feverish brain. I am/WAS currently watching Despicable Me and just wanted EVERYBODY to know that I'm so Team Agnes, "It's so fluffy"! Just thought you should all know. Also I've never mentioned it in the story, but Harry gets a whole new wardrobe, one that fits and makes him look (in Hermione's eyes) **_YUMMY!_** They bought all his clothes at Sam's Leathers and S &M Shop. To get there go down Knockturn Alley until you get to Happy Bunny Lane, take a left and it's the third store down under the pink and orange canopy. They're the ones with the cut out of Voldemort in only assless chaps and nipple clamps, kinda really hard to miss! JUST KIDDINIG, they went to regular Wizard and Muggle stores to get him good, new clothes. Use your imagination as to what they bought, those of you who have already been to Sam's know what he carries. AARRGGHH, my brain will let me write this but not let me finish chapter two of Dead Again, so irritating.

HarryPotterismygodhahahaonlyjokingbutmagicisreallyreal

The following week was rough on everyone as the Dr.'s Granger had to get used to their little girl now being married at the age of fourteen, almost fifteen, but also for Harry and Hermione for pretty much the same reason.

Dan spent several hours the first couple of days with Emma in the study talking to the portrait of Danielle Granger, who had been the last Lady Granger, painted 300 years earlier, and filling her in on as much family and world history as they could. Dan assured her he would dig through the old family archives and bring in more information soon.

Dan had the "That's my daughter and I don't want her mother or I to be grandparents before you graduate school" speech, and Harry had professed that they had talked about that the first night and had decided that after Hogwarts they would see what Universities would have them and have children after they graduated. This went a long way to helping the adult Granger's accept Harry as part of the family.

Harry and Hermione went on several dates over the next three weeks both in Glasgow and Diagon Alley and about a month before they returned to school consummated their marriage, three times that first night and twice the following morning, needless to say they didn't make it down until lunch that day. Not that Emma and Dan noticed as, from the sounds occasionally heard coming from their room over the last several weeks (Hermione had gotten into the habit of putting up silencing charms on both rooms before going to bed at night), they had been doing a fair amount of consummating themselves.

That week brought several other surprises to the happy, little group; Hedwig flew in one day with a letter from Sirius,

 **Harry,**

 **This wonderful owl appeared out of nowhere three days ago, just as I was about to start this letter. It wasn't until I found the Potter Crest on the collar that I knew she was yours. They have a great ability to know when someone close to the family needs to send a letter and, will normally, happily deliver said letter.**

 **This one reminds me of the Potter Manor owl, Hamlet, which would deliver your father's mail at Hogwarts. I digress, since my escape I have made my way somewhere safe and am slowly regaining my health. Fear not for my sanity for as your father and our friends would tell you. I never really had that much.**

 **Know that I miss you and am sorry I let my anger influence my decisions that night. Dumbledore says he has a way to bring me back this school year, so I will hopefully see you soon.**

 **Your doddering Dogfather,**

 **Sirius Orion Black**

After a quick conference with Hermione and her parents Harry wrote a letter back to him.

Sirius,

It was wonderful to hear from you, we are glad you are doing better. Hedwig and Hamlet are probably related as I found out that there is only one family that breeds the Snow Owl. I can't explain in this letter, but DO NOT TRUST DUMBLEDORE at this point, certain things just do not add up. Please check yourself and ALL possessions for tracking charms and once removed, this letter is a portkey and will get you safely through the wards. Remember Sirius, I am my father's son.

Harry

Harry had sealed the letter and was placing it on the counter when Hedwig appeared and stuck out her leg, "It is okay girl, get some food and have a bit of a rest and you can take it later tonight". Hedwig nipped at his fingers and stood there with her leg out, "Fine, fine, you can take it now, just rest for a couple of days before heading home okay". Hedwig nipped his ear and flew out the window to deliver her message to Sirius.

To say Molly was upset would be like saying Hiroshima was a dud firecracker, she was making Mt. Vesuvius look like a third graders science project. The Senior Auror guarding the Ministry cells was more than happy to sign the paperwork to turn over the extremely boorish Molly No-Name and, lump of human waste matter, Ronald No-Name to Dumbledore as quickly as possible.

Albus was having an awful couple of weeks ever since retrieving the ex Weasley's. Molly's anger was such that no matter the strongest Silencing Charm, she could still be heard. On top of that he'd had to blood adopt "The Human Garbage Disposal" just to get him back into Hogwarts for the coming year.

Ron was oblivious to everything, all he knew was that he had no chores to do and that when the summer was over he would apologize to Harry and ask Hermione to be his girlfriend again; this time he'd be sly and ask her while rubbing her butt, all girls liked their butts rubbed. Ron couldn't understand why every time he got "excited" thinking about Hermione he'd end up in terrible pain doubled up on the floor. He would sometimes ask where the rest of the family was but would forget about them as soon as Molly put food in front of him.

Draco Malfoy was having one of the best summers he could remember, he and his father had just returned from the Quidditch World Cup and while the game was exciting to watch it was the after show that really had him smiling. Watching ten Death Eaters (dad included) juggle that mundane family was great fun and the fact that it was in the middle of tens of thousands of witch's and wizard's and none of them did anything to stop it only proved to him that true power came from fear. This year he'd break Potter and that Mudblood Bitch he always had with him.

Sirius had reread Harry's letter three times and was about to contact Dumbledore and ask him what was up when his higher functions kicked in and he started asking himself questions. Why did James and Lily leave the well protected walls of Potter Manor just to be placed under a Fidelus by Albus. Albus knew who the Secret Keeper was, he choose Peter over the protests of everyone present. Why has he not let me have a trial and kept me locked away for the last twelve years. He knows Peter is still alive yet still does not push for a trial. Sirius's magic was beginning to flare, it actually unstuck the picture of his mother from the wall wherein he promptly burned it to ash before checking himself and removing several tracking charms then saying "Mischief Managed" and activating the portkey to a new, safer destination he hoped.

Hermione stared down at the paper reading the article about the Dark Mark appearing at the QWC and sighed in relief that they hadn't gone with the Weasley's and had refused the Ministers offer of tickets to spend more time with her parents and each other; though thanks to the goblins, nobody but themselves knew about "the husband". Hermione wondered how long that would last once they got back to Hogwarts.

Sirius arrived at Granger Manor not in the opulent front foyer as Dan and Emma had but, thanks to a prank Hermione allowed Harry to play, in the exact middle of the white tiger enclosure. As the spinning stopped, Sirius opened and than very quickly closed his eyes and began muttering. "Something must have gone wrong... really wrong. Mischief Managed, Mischief Managed, MISCHIEF MANAGED..." Nothing had worked, when he opened his eyes all he saw were tigers, something must have been off with the portkey and the wards didn't recognize him.

That's when he heard the snickering and watched as Harry removed The invisibility cloak off of himself and the Grangers. "Very funny Harry, now how about helping your, just aged forty years in ten seconds, godfather out of this cage". "Sorry Sirius, but they're not technically mine to command, they truly only listen to the Mistress of the House, Hermione if you would please". Hermione stepped forward, "Bubbles, Blizzard, Tinky and Spots he's a friend, go lay down". The tigers took one last sniff each at Sirius before laying down and appearing to go to sleep.

Once Sirius was out of the cage, and the group was away from the Stables, Harry was chased all the way back to the Manor by Padfoot. He finally caught Harry just before he could get into the manor and that's how the Grangers found them on the ground with Harry getting tickled by Sirius. Once inside Hermione had Alcott show Sirius to a bedroom to get cleaned up and ready for supper. Several hours later, after a shower, shave and nap, Sirius and the Grangers got the full story of the first eleven years of Harry's life and their first three years at Hogwarts, nothing was left out. Once Harry and Hermione went to bed the adults stayed up for several hours discussing everything they'd been told and trying to figure out a plan for the children's safety. Sirius also decided that he would try the DragonFire Whiskey before going to sleep and he remained in his bed, unconscious, for the next three days and with a hangover, which no potion could lessen, for four days after that.

September 1st arrived and Dan, Emma and Padfoot said goodbye to the kids (with the understanding that if things became to intense they could always come home) and watched them disappear through the wall onto Platform 9 3/4. They'd been on the train for about an hour; they were in a car with Neville, the Twins, Ginny and a girl she introduced as Luna Lovegood (she congratulated them, than went back to reading the Quibbler upside down) when Draco and his anal warts opened the door and sneered in. "Well I see they still have the loser car and you and the Mud…" That was as far as he got before Harry, moving at speeds honed at school and the local park avoiding Dudley and the Harry Hunters, sank a fist into Draco's stomach and brought a knee into his face as he doubled over.

"There's a Mundane American sport called baseball, in it you're given three strikes before you're out consider this strike one. Crabbe, Goyle neither of you need to share "The Ferret's" fate, get your leader out of here before anything else happens to him".

As Goyle grabbed one of Draco's arms he let the charmed note slip out like he had practiced all summer. He knew he was not very smart, but could see that every time he had been with Draco and they had faced Harry Potter that Harry had always come out on top and that Harry always had the backing of friends that were not being paid but actually liked him. He had become good friends with Millicent Bulstrode over the last couple of years and both were looking for a better life.

Colin Creavy knocked on the carriage door sometime later and after saying hello to Harry, and taking a picture of everyone in the car, remembered why he had knocked in the first place. "Harry, I was walking to my car when I saw this in front of your door and thought that someone in here might have dropped it". "Thanks Colin, hey could you get us copies of the picture you just took? Let me know how much the materials cost and I'll pay you for them".

Colin nodded yes as he left the car to continue on to his friends, the twins, Ginny and Luna also left to visit with their other friends as well. Hermione asked for the note and after doing several revealing charms on it, and finding nothing, gave it back to Harry. He broke the seal and began to read:

Mr. Harry Potter,

I am Gregory Goyle Jr. and I know you have no reason to believe me when I say this, but I do not hate or even dislike you. I have done some things (bullying) that I'm not proud of, over the last couple of years I've made a friend of my own (someone I was not forced to like by my father).

Millicent has shown me that I can be a kinder person then I have been up to now. She is helping me write this letter as I am not very good at this kind of thing. Last year we made sure that nobody picked on the first years of any house while we were around, and we are going to do the same this year. If you could help us to escape, Millicent has a squib aunt who owns a farm and has offered us protection.

Your former enemy,

Gregory Goyle Jr.

Harry was stunned and sat in quiet thought as he nudged Hermione and handed the letter to her.

Hermione read the letter out loud to Neville as Harry stared out the window in silent contemplation. Neville was the first to speak, "Whew, do you guys really think Goyle was only doing those things because he was being forced to"? "No" Harry replied, "He did them because he didn't know he could do anything else". Looking over at Hermione he said "Sometimes it just takes the love of the right women to show you that you can be better" Hermione smiled sweetly at Harry and said "We'll have to ask some of the First Years, and if it's true we should try and help as much as we can". She snuggled into Harry's side for the rest of the trip.

The only new information at the Opening Feast was a new DADA Prof., former Auror Alistair "Mad Eye" Moody, and no Quidditch due to the Tri-Wizard Tournament being hosted by Hogwarts this year. Also Ron was at the Gryffindor table during the feast but as word got around as to what happened over the summer and the loss of the Weasley name everyone moved away from him and he ate alone.

Over the next week Harry, Hermione and Neville checked with the second years and found out that Greg and Millicent had indeed stopped many of them from being picked on and abused by the other House's. Hermione and Harry spent the weekend writing a response to the repentant Slytherin and figuring out a way to get it to him and not get him caught by his House Mates.

Monday after lunch Harry caught up to Goyle on the way to Potions and sent a light tripping hex at him causing him to fall to the floor. As he began to stand Harry goaded him. "What's wrong Goyle, not smart enough to walk and breathe at the same time"? Greg looked hurt as Harry stepped closer and grabbing Greg by the front of his robes whispered "Sorry Greg, this has to look good, Snape's right around the corner and this will make sure your change of heart isn't uncovered". Slipping the note into his hand Harry continued, "You need to hit me in the stomach and it has to be convincing".

Greg's eyes cleared in understanding as he yelled, "What did you do that for Potter! This will teach you to trip a Snake". He punched Harry as hard as he could, doubling him up and putting him on the floor. Just then Snape made his presence known and took twenty points from Harry while giving thirty points to Goyle for demonstrating an effective mundane fighting style.

Later in the Slytherin Common Room, Greg and Millicent where at a study table together reading the note that Harry had given him.

Greg and Millicent,

We are glad that not everyone in Slytherin follows the Malfoys without question. Thank you for looking after the first years last year and continuing that good work again this year. Be careful Millicent as one of the second year "Puffs" (Beatrice Young) now thinks of Greg as her hero, and I think Millicent has replaced me as Dennis Creavy newest inspiration.

They both smiled, while holding hands under the table, and continued reading.

Sorry about what I had to do to get you this note, but I had to make it look real. Hermione and I have decided that you two are worth helping. Please come to the seventh floor hall by the tapestry of Barnibus the Balmy at 7:00 pm Friday and I promise we'll explain further then.

Harry and Hermione

Ron was confused and angry, confused that he now lived in a different house (when not at school) with only his mother who had begun using her maiden name, while he was now a Dumbledore. He was angry that, for some reason, every Gryffindor (the whole school for that matter) seemed to be avoiding him, and he could trace it all back to Harry "Bloody" Potter and his no good Mudblood whore Hermione Granger. The bitch would be his, as Dumbledore and his mother promised, and at the same time he would be taking something precious from Potter.

Draco couldn't understand how every time he tried to take down Potter it had always backfired and blown up in his face. It was time to turn his efforts towards Granger, since as a mudblood she had no status in the magical world, and he knew just who to go to for help.

Ron was terrified after waking up from being stunned and finding himself naked and tied to a chair in an empty classroom. "I have a deal for you Weasel, you help me take Granger from Potter and you can have her to do whatever you want with. What do you say Weasel, if I untie you are you in"? Ron's eyes glazed over at the thoughts of what he would do to Hermione. As he nodded "Yes" and his excitement tried to grow, he doubled over in pain as "Wee Ron" would never again rise to the occasion. After being untied and dressing he shook Draco's hand and vowed to do whatever it took to hurt Potter and asked, "So what do you have in mind Ferret"? "Well, since she has no status in our world and we are Pure-Blood wizards, I found an old law that allows us to claim her as our "plaything". I don't want her, I just want to hurt Potter, but if you want to sully yourself in that then I leave her to you". Ron tried to smiled for the first time in six months as the pain intensified once more. "When do you want to do this", he croaked while spitting up bile and thinking about the fastest way to Moaning Myrtles bathroom or down to the kitchens for an icepack, or both.

Thanks to a quick warning from Millicent and some checking with the Goblins, Hermione and Harry had their status change registered with the Magical Government and a response ready for when Ron and Draco made their move on them the following Monday.

It was midway through breakfast when Ron and Draco approached Hermione and began speaking as one. "Hermione Jane Granger, by the Blood Borne Act of 1312 we, Ronald Billious Dumbledore and Draco Scorpious Malfoy, do hereby claim you as our slave and concubine and command you to leave your table and follow us".

The Great Hall grew deathly silent as Hermione dropped her silverware and stood up with a glassy look in her eyes, both boys sneered as Harry looked on with horror on his face. They turned to lead Hermione out of the Great Hall when they heard first Harry then Hermione begin laughing. Finding Hermione sitting back on the bench in Harry's arms, laughing at them, seemed to break the two boys and both drew their wands. Not quickly enough as Harry and Hermione petrified them and watched as they crashed backwards onto the floor.

The Magic that was practically oozing from Hermione had the effect of keeping all other students and teachers glued to their seats and speechless as she stood and addressed the two. "Did you really think that enacting a law from 1312, was going to get your revenge on Harry and myself? Let's start with the fact that neither of you did any real research on this, if you had you would have found that:

A: It was repealed almost as soon as it was enacted (within forty-eight hours).

B: It was meant to protect Mundane Born, not enslave them, that's why it was repealed.

C: If you had bothered to check with your "Fathers" you would known that I have recently taken up the mantle of Head of House for an Ancient and Noble House.

D: By doing so I enacted a betrothal contract to the Potters, and it was accepted.

E: Now making me Lady Hermione Jane Granger-Potter of The Ancient and Most Noble House of Granger

F: Finally making what you two asshats have done Line Theft and punishable with your lives".

As she had been speaking lightning had been arcing between her fingers and her eyes looked like liquid amber. Ron and Draco began to visibly tremble as Hermione continued. "Neither I or my Husband have any desire to see either of you dead at this point, but justice must be meted out".

"Ronald, I am glad you were thrown out of your true family as it will save them even more grief and embarrassment, and your ultimate demise will only scar the name Dumbledore and not Weasley. As for you Draco, I know how your father preaches superiority but are you aware that your family has been banned from ever returning to France under penalty of death by beheading. At least there you once held Noble status, here in Great Britain you barely rank as a Clan. If it wasn't for the Black money you'd have no money at all, I fear that unless your mother allows that thing you call a father near her once again that the Malfoy line ends today".

Hermione looked at Harry, who only nodded his approval, and turned to face her attackers. "As Magic has blessed us all in this school and our lives, I now call on Magic to judge the worthiness of Ronald Billious Dumbledore and Draco Scorpious Malfoy to continue to be wizards in our society". A silver mist rose from the ground and enveloped the two boys, lifting them off the ground and causing them to scream in pain. Albus and Severus had both broken Hermione's accidental magic and had attempted to rise from the Staff Table to interfere with Hermione's oath, but the silver mist immobilized and silenced them once more. After several minutes Draco and Ron were lowered to the ground and the mist dissipated.

Draco was the first to react, "Ha Granger, were still alive. I guess Magic found us acceptable and now you die mudblood", as he'd been speaking Draco had pulled out his wand, he yelled "ADVRA KADAVRA". The entire student body, except Hermione and Harry, visibly flinched as the spell was shouted. "Silly boy", Hermione spoke sweetly as if to a new born child, "Magic did not judge your life or death, but your ability to use magic. As you can plainly see those silly words you said had no effect, as most Mundanes now have more magic in them than the two of you combined".

"The Malfoy line has ended today and the Dumbledore's have a blot they may never recover from. It never had to come to this, if you had left us alone we would have been more than happy to leave you alone, but neither of you seemed to have the capacity to think for yourselves and this, sadly, is the end result". Hermione summoned their wands and snapped them, she then called Dobby asking him to remove the mundanes beyond the wards of the school; he was more than happy to comply.

Now that the mist was gone and they were mobile again Dumbledore and Snape found all they could do was to follow their charges out beyond the wards of the castle as the Magic of Hogwarts kept them from using magic, taking House points or even assigning detentions.


	5. Chapter 5

The Goblins had been tireless in their pursuit of any allegations of wrong doing by Albus Dumbledore and, sharing this information with Amelia Bones, they were sure they would permanently remove the Head Master from Hogwarts and society by the end of the school year at the latest. Griphook had all seventeen of Albus's accounts locked down, that was including five that Albus thought nobody would ever connect to him. They even went as far as to charm his brothers' account so that he could not even lend money to Albus.

On top of all that the Goblins had banned him from doing business with any Gringotts branch EVER! If he showed up as himself the guards would bar his entrance, and as all glamor's and polyjuice were revealed upon entering the bank he was forcibly thrown out on three separate occasions (two on the same day, one of the times as a woman still wearing his beard, picture any one of the members of Monty Python in drag).

The whole incident with Ron and Draco seemed to have finally come to a close, until that Thursday's editions of the Prophet and Quibbler were delivered during breakfast.

 **PETTY REVENGE or MAGICAL JUSTICE**

By

J. Jaxson Jammson

We, here at the Daily Prophet, have learned that last Monday an "Event" happened at Hogwarts that has some calling for the head of the person responsible and some calling it poetic justice. Last Monday the Head of an Ancient and Most Noble House turned two students into Squibs, and if I have the quote correct they "Now have less magic then most Mundanes".

It would appear that at breakfast last Monday two students (of supposed Pure-Blood) went up to Hermione Granger and tried to enact the Blood Borne Act of 1312. Neither, it appears, were aware of the Act no longer being on the "Books" or of Ms. Grangers recent rise in station in the Wizarding World. She has recently claimed (and been accepted as) Head of House of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Granger.

The foolish students had not been informed of this elevated status by their parents and were shocked when Lady Granger refused to go with them. Lady Granger then immobilized the students and read them a list of their crimes. The two most heinous of the charges being attempted kidnapping and line theft of an Ancient and Most Noble House.

This is where eyewitness testimony varies, some claim that Lady Granger cast a "Dark" spell on the students burning out their magical cores. While clearer heads claim that after she established their crimes she simply asked "Magic" (itself) to judge the worthiness of the two students. Whichever version you wish to believe the results are the same, Squibs!

This is also where the arguments start, as a Head of an Ancient and Most Noble House Lady Granger is allowed to protect herself and her family from attacks. While calling on "Magic" seems extreme it is well within her rights. She could have called a Blood Feud, Honor Duel, or simply killed them outright. Any of these would have seen House Granger (if the winner) absorb the two Lesser Houses and any Houses that were subservient to them (as they were the offending parties), at least this way the two (former) students are still alive.

The other side of the coin has some Families calling for the head of Lady Granger and accusing her of the murder of two Pure-Blood heirs. A note from one of the fathers reads in part, "This Mundane-Born Bi... Witch gets a title and the next thing that happens is she goes after a Pure-Blood that she perceives slighted her. The Ministry should arrest the Head of House, confiscating the title, lands and monies and distributing it among the aggrieved".

As always, it is not my (or this Papers) place to sit in judgment or to point fingers, it is simply to give a clearer picture and hopefully a better understanding of what has transpired and let you draw your own conclusions.

For more information on Lady Granger see pg. 4

For more information on The House of Granger see pg. 5

For more information on The Blood Borne Act of 1312 see pg. 6

For more information on Squibs and Mundanes see pg. 12

 **Congratulations to the Happy Couple**

By

Luna S. Lovegood

With exhaustive research, a good ear for a story and of course going to the the same school, this reporter (and newspaper) would like to be the first to congratulate the happy couple of Harry Potter and his beautiful Bride (yes, I said Bride, sorry ladies) Hermione Jane Granger-Potter. It seems that during the "events" of last Monday more information was given than most people cared to hear.

Having spent an enjoyable train ride with the couple and a car full of their friends this last September 1st, I could sense that something good had changed between the two over the Summer months.

I knew something was going to happen soon as the Grizzlehip infestation had been getting worse over the last couple of days. I waited anxiously in the Great Hall that Monday (as that's where the Grizzlehips were the most numerous) and about half way through the meal is when the "fun" started. I was too far away to hear the beginning of what happened, but I have been able to piece together what was said.

Two classmates approached Hermione Granger and together said, "Hermione Granger, you are so beautiful and smart, we admit that there is no comparison between you and us. You are obviously so much better than we are in all matters Magic and Mundane. Our only hope is to act like small minded, spoiled children who always throw a tantrum when we don't get our way. That's why we are using some old, outdated law that we don't fully understand to make you come with us and do our homework, also we would just like to bask in your beauty".

This is where Hermione, or Lady Granger as she stated, thanked them for their compliment but told the two boys that she couldn't help them cheat in school. She also stated that she and (here's the good stuff, it's all true and has been checked with both the Ministry and Gringotts) her Husband (Harry James Potter) did not wish ill of either boy but something had to be done to teach them that cheating was wrong. Lady Granger than said something about Magic and the Grizzlehips started swirling around the two boys, lifting them in the air and drinking all their Magic. Once again we at the Quibbler would like to congratulate Mr. Harry James Potter and Mrs. Hermione Jane Granger-Potter on their marriage over the summer and this reporter hopes that the couple remain happy and healthy for a very long time.

For more information on Grizzlehips see pg 7

For more information on Crumpled Horned Beasts see pg 7

For more recipes using dehydrated Flatus Sacs see pg 8

For the answers to tomorrows crossword puzzle see Saturday's paper

For all other inquiries please contact Xeno Lovegood or Ace reporter Luna Lovegood, care of the Quibbler Newspaper or Lovegood Media Enterprises

Harry smiled as he finished reading the article in the Quibbler. He and Hermione would definitely have to get to know Luna Lovegood better, maybe even sign an exclusive deal with the paper as the only ones who could legally print stories and photographs of them. He'd also check into investing with the paper, but first things first, he bought ten additional copies of the paper and even signed one for Luna herself.

Dumbledore was beside himself with rage and frustration, he was literally down to his last Knut in a winning attempt to keep Ron's name out of the papers. Thankfully they had not found out he (Dumbledore) was now a pauper and was living in his rooms at Hogwarts because everything else had been seized by the Goblins. Soon he would have to start selling some of his most treasured items just to buy robes or eat a meal outside of Hogwarts. Albus still wasn't sure exactly when his plans began to unravel, he just knew it had something to do with Granger and he'd been far to slow to react.

Lucius Malfoy was murderous, not only did he have to spend nearly half his fortune to keep Draco's name out of the paper, he couldn't even go after "Lady" Granger because of the difference in their social rankings. To add insult to injury, he had lost his only legal heir and his pride (and his highly suspicious wife) would not allow him to acknowledge any of the half dozen, or so, "Bastards" he knew to be out there. Their mothers had all been Obliviated; even the two Magical women.

 _Narcissa, on the other hand, couldn't have been happier. She had already sent a Petition of Annulment to the Head of House Black care of Gringotts and was simply awaiting a reply. She had known of Lucius's indiscretions_ _even though he_ _had tried to hide them from her_ _._ _S_ _he was just thankful that she conceived th_ _e_ _first time, and since had not let him anywhere near her. As for Draco, she would miss him; however he had not been her son since his sixth birthday when Lucius had taken him to the basement to begin his training as a Death Eater._

 _Narcissa smiled at what the annulment would bring. She would get the Black name back and would_ _again_ _be able to talk to her sister Andromeda (Andi). If they could somehow capture Bella maybe they could undo some of the spells and compulsions she had been put under to marry LeStrange. An annulment would also take the last of Lucius's wealth_ _(including the Manor as it had once been a Black home)_ _leaving him destitute._

 _This was also the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, as when the story broke Arthur told the rest of the Order of the Phoenix what had happened over the summer. Backed up by Auror_ _s_ _Shackleb_ _olt_ _and Ton_ _ks the news caused an irreversible rift in the_ _O_ _rder. A small percentage still thought that what Albus Dumbledore had done and allowed to be done was correct as he was the "Leader of the Light", but most were finally woken up to his manipulations._

 _Molly Prewett (formerly No-Name, formerly Weasley), sat_ _alone_ _at a table in the kitchens of Hogwarts contemplating her life and newest job. In exchange for room and board she had, just that morning, been told by Dumbledore that she would be the only one preparing and serving his meals, his own personal_ _house elf... er..._ _chef. The House Elves had set her up with a kitchen and pantry and had left her alone as every time they had tried to help her she had yelled at them. She had called them "Disgusting little creatures no better than_ _G_ _arden Gnomes and should be treated the same". Since then, she_ _'_ _d suffered a series of unexplained trip_ _ping_ _and stinging hexes._

 _Her anger was fueled by several thoughts, first was that this was Hermione's fault for not "going with the program" and "loving" her son_ _the way she was meant to._ _Plus she'd received the medical reports on his working parts and knew for certain that there'd never be any grandchildren from that source,_ _heck he was lucky he could still tinkle standing up_ _. Second was_ _that_ _Harry's interference at the B_ _u_ _rrow before she had a chance to "correct" the situation_ _had not helped_ _. Third, she didn't believe Dumbledore had done enough to protect her little Ronnykins from the bullies at Hogwarts (even if,_ _as it turned out,_ _he was one himself). Finally she was angry that she had been reduced to nothing more than school cook and had to work alongside those miserable,_ _little, filthy_ _house elves._

 _Draco and Ron, while not friends, knew the chances of survival in the Magical or Mundane world were better if they stuck together; they did just that and eventually made their way to Diagon Alley. Once there, they were able to get a room at the Wizards Rest Boarding House for 10 Galleons a month; shared bath and shower down the hall. Both boys were able to find work, Draco at Borgin and Burke's (thanks to some of_ _the last of_ _daddy's gold) in their warehouse_ _cataloging inventory_ _(lifting heavy boxes from point "A" to point "B")_ _and Ron sweeping the floors of the Leaky Cauldron (Dumbledores last favor ever)._

 _Millie and Greg had their meeting with Hermione, Harry and Neville in the room of requirements. It was decided that, since Draco was gone, unless life became unbearable in Slytherin House they would stay and protect the younger years. In the mean time they were given full access to the Room of Requirements and the new friends began to learn about each other._ _It turned out that Millie was a natural at Herbology, not quite on par with Neville, but still very talented. Greg was First in their year in Care of Mag_ _i_ _cal Creatures, it looked like they'd do very well as farmers_

 _Madame Bones sat at her office desk and smiled at the latest reports delivered by the goblins, they weren't the nicest "people" but as long as you didn't upset them_ _too much_ _you were good. With it, and the information Harry had given her about the Potters secret keeper_ _plus her actual talks with Sirius Black at Granger Manor_ _, she was building a solid, air tight case against the Headmaster. As for Sirius, Amelia had already set the wheels in motion to finally have his trial right before Dumbledore's to add more fuel to that fire._

 _Dan,_ _E_ _mma_ _and Sirius_ _had just settled down to breakfast in the manors informal dining room_ _w_ _hen Hermes (_ _Emma's_ _personal Snow Owl) brought in a letter from Hermione and Harry along with the morning paper. Emma gave him a piece of bacon and an affectionate peck on the top of his head, passed the paper to Dan and began reading the latest letter from_ _t_ _he_ _i_ _r daughter and son in-law. After switching letter for paper, both Dr.'s Granger were happy that they had found excellent replacements for themselves at the practice while they took an extended leave of absence and had moved into Granger Manor on a more permanent basis._ _Sirius was just happy that everything seemed to be going well for Harry, and he was amazed at just how fast he and the Grangers had accepted each other as they were truly helping him regain his humanity._

 _Hermes flew back into the study later that evening just as Emma was finishing up a letter to Hermione and Harry._

 _Dear_ _Hermione and Harry,_

 _It's nice to hear that the school year has started so calmly as opposed to previous years. My, you two don't do anything by half do you? Your dad and I have taken up residence in the manor and are slowly becoming accustomed to the Gentry Lifestyle._ _Sirius has taken a little getting used but I believe that the shadow of that awful place is finally leaving him. His health has definitely improved and his smiles and laughter appear more genuine each day (it's quite infectious)._ _He and your father have a mundane prank war going on right now that I'll have to put a stop to in a day or so._

 _What do you think about either a Christmas or New Year's party here at the manor? I wouldn't mind rubbing your Aunt Cindy and Cousin Jessica's nose in your rise to a Lady and being married to a Lord. Maybe we should just tell them that you're only seriously dating right now! Well, we're glad you're both doing well, remember you can come home whenever you want, we miss you both and Daniella says "Hi" and she'll see you a_ _t_ _Christmas._

 _Love Mum and Dad_

 _Emma sealed the letter and put it in the outgoing mail slot and told Hermes that regular delivery in the morning was just fine. She bid Daniella good night, turned off the lights and went to seek out Dan._

 _Upon having the newspaper read to him, Voldemort had, literally, blown a fuse. Wormtail had left the Voldemort/Baby Thing_ _y_ _in a corner laying in a puddle of its own sick. It had developed a tic in it's right eye and there were spasms down the left hand side of it's body. Wormtail had almost started laughing when, after hearing what the Granger girl had d_ _one to two Pure-_ _bloods, Voldything tried to use a Fire spell and barely singed the paper._

 _After seeing how they would be treated by the Pure-bloods, most of the Mundane born petitioned Hermione and Harry for protection. The following Friday in the Room of Requirements one hundred and twenty three mundane born Hogwarts students were met with a surprise._ Not only Hermione, Harry, Neville, Millie and Greg were there, but there were also three Goblins. _There was Griphook and t_ _hree_ _others_ _(James, Tiberius, and Kirk, yes, they're triplets)_ _from the Inheritance Department, by the end of the night fifteen Noble Houses, eight Ancient Houses, three Ancient and Noble House and one Ancient and Most Noble house had their vaults reactivated by Gringotts. The next session of the Wizengamot was going to be interesting._

 _A_ _s predicted,_ _interesting_ _it was_ _, with the support of the twenty-seven newest House seats, Hermione and Harry had their own voting Bloc and_ _changes_ _would begin_ _to occur almost instantly. The first to go w_ _ould be_ _the Decree of Under Age Magic, the new_ _Law_ _stat_ _ing_ _that as long as an adult (seventeen or older) was present and knew of Magic the student could practice what they had learned_ _within the boundaries of the Statute of Secrecy_ _. Another was Ministry jobs, it w_ _ould_ _no longer_ _be_ _acceptable to hire only Pure-bloods, each new candidate for a job must pass a written test (judged by a blind panel) and must demonstrate knowledge and ability in the job applied for_ _(akin to taking your O.W.L_ _._ _'s or N.E.W.T.'s)._

 _Of the other ninety-six "Mundane" students it was found that they were Cadet lines (Harry found four distant relatives_ _including the Cre_ _a_ _vys_ _and Hermione found three through the Cadet lines) of other families that had gone dormant for reasons ranging from witch hunts to inbreeding to war._

 _One of the more interesting stories was Traci Davis, a half blood Slytherin who was always looked down on in her House. It was found that through her Mundane/Squib father that she was a Cadet line to House Greengrass, and thus related, to her best friend Daphne Greengrass also of Slytherin._

 _This just went to prove what the Goblins had been trying to tell the Ministry for the longest time, there is no such thing as a Mundane born witch or Wizard, just lines that had gone dormant or_ _near_ _extinct. This was the reason why Gringotts had never allowed the Ministry to take a supposed "dead" lines vaults, as they were sure that the line was still out there and just had not yet been rediscovered._

 _Narcissa Malfoy finally got a return letter from the Goblins, in it she found the annulment agreement signed by Sirius_ _on the condition that she was not a Death Eater and had not willing followed Voldemort_ _. It granted her full reinstatement to the House of Black, her dowry, plus interest, was to be_ _added to_ _her new vault, Sirius had also named her as his proxy in the_ _Wizengomot_ _. Andromeda and her family had also been reinstated with her dowry_ _added to her existing_ _vault. Narcissa immediately had_ _her personal House Elf, Hazel,_ _pack up her belongings and put them into storage, then_ _used the Malfoy floo, for the last time, to call her sister; s_ _he Flooed Andi and after getting the okay, stepped through to a new, Malfoy free,_ _life._

 _Things at Hogwarts had settled down after that and all four Houses found a renewed respect for each other. The Headmaster was too busy trying to scrape money together to bother Harry at all. Lucius Malfoy was now broke,_ _he had tried to sell the Manor but had been laughed at by the Goblins he'd contacted._

 _They told him that the Manor and everything in it (with the annulment) had reverted back to Black ownership. The new Head of House was doing his best to erase the Malfoy name and had given the property and everything in and on it to the Goblins as a new dragon dung fertilizer plant_ _._

 _Molly not only cooked for Albus, but was now doing his laundry and was the only one allowed to clean his rooms. She was the only one to notice that books, pictures and other artifacts in Dumbledores collection seemed to be disappearing quite rapidly._

 _Ron and Draco_ _left Diagon Alley and_ _acclimated to London quicker than one would have thought. Ron got in with a local street gang as a runner, while Draco seemed to of found his calling in prostitution. At first it was only women, but as larger offers started coming in from men Draco started going both ways._

 _The only ones who seemed to be leading a better life were the surviving Weasley's. Arthur had started dating a girl that worked in the ministry and had been a Ravenclaw just a year younger than him. He remembered that he was going to ask her to the next Hogsmead weekend when for some reason he thought he suddenly was in love with Molly instead. Ginny was doing much better now that she was seeing a mind healer twice a week. Arthur insisted once he found out that she was suffering sever bouts of depression, would still hear_ _Tom Riddle_ _talking to her_ _at times_ _and woke up screaming from nightmares. Molly had known but told Ginny that they would just fade over time and_ _that_ _Ginny would make the family look abnormal_ _if they sought help_ _._

 _Percy was still a prat and still wanted to join the Ministry after Graduation. Even with the new rules in place he was almost assured of a job due to his grades and work ethic. The twins showed the most improvement as their grades climbed higher. It seemed that without the "Harpy" screaming at them all the time that they were very good students. Bill and_ _Charlie_ _liked how happy the family now was and found time and ways to be home more often._

 _Dan and Emma found that the country life suited them. Dan found out, by accident, that the House Elves could do just about anything. He'd been talking to Alcott and Jane and showed them pictures of one of his favorite golf c_ _ourses_ _and three days later Jane took him_ _out to see_ _the_ _nine_ _hole,_ _par three,_ _course they had made._ _Dan would have to wait to teach Harry how to play as Sirius refused to learn calling golf "A nice walk ruined"._

 _Even though she was Dan's relative, Daniella and Emma would spend hours talking like long lost friends. That's how Emma learned of the escape tunnel from the study to the stables._ _Dan and Emma_ _didn't forget their old life and still met friends in London and found time to continue their Thursday night dates, overall they were very happy._

 _In mid September the Grangers received another letter from Hermione and Harry saying that a_ _New Y_ _ears party sounded like a great idea_ _since they had the Yule Ball Christmas Eve Night_ _. They sent along a list of friends they would like to invite saying that there was a good chance the list would grow as the Holidays approached._

 _Harry told them that even though there was no Quidditch this year, he and members of the other teams_ _had_ _talked the Deputy Headmistress into allowing them to stage games on the weekends and even allowing teams by year. He told her it would allow everyone a chance to play and let the team captains get a sneak peek at up and coming players._ _They were also going to try and get the other schools to participate once they arrived_

 _They ended the letter saying that they were looking forward to the arrival of the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, and the holidays to be back with their family._

HarryPotterismygodhahahaonlyjokingbutmagicisreallyreal

I believe there are only three chapters left in this story. The next chapter will be the arrival of the competing schools, some "stuff" happens to our main and secondary characters and then the pulling of the Champions names. Yes, as the title says, there will be FIRE.

So until next time kiddies, always fight the good fight, or at least take a healthy enough bribe to stay out of the fight all together.

See ya all soon,

 _123irish_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Before I forget, all the schools speak perfect English. If you read it in French or Bulgarian or the pigeon English that makes my eyes and brain hurt reading and translating it, than **YOU** are a much better reader than I am a writer. So without further ado, on with the show this is it!

HarryPotterismygodhahahaonlyjokingbutmagicisreallyreal

On October 1st at 6:00pm sharp, all of Hogwarts turned out dressed in their finest school robes to welcome their fellow students from the competing schools of _Beauxbatons and Durmstrang._ _They were separated by house and year but they all had the same Question._ _Th_ _at_ _question being, how_ _were the other two_ _schools getting to Hogwarts. Most of the students thought that the easiest way would be the same way they did it, The Hogwarts Express._ _Of course most of those students were ignorant, Slytherin, sister diddling, first cousin marrying idgits, oh yeah, and they w_ _ould be_ _wrong!_

 _Luna was the first to spot it,_ _(it being nothing really, she was just getting bored and feeling a slight chill. She really just wanted to be back in the Castle, the Great Hall more specifically,_ _and_ _enjoy_ _ing_ _some nice butterscotch pudding.)_ _"Look, up in the sky, it_ _'_ _s a_ _b_ _room_ _, it's a_ _CARPET_ _,_ _NO,_ _IT'S A_ _G_ _IANT_ _G_ _ALLOPING_ _F_ _LIRTING_ _E_ _ARWIZZLE and it_ _looks like it's_ _taken ill and has vomited". Everyone looked up_ _expectantly_ _as nobody could recall the last time a GGFE had been ill let alone what one might_ _actually_ _look like. At first there appeared to be nothing_ _(which is exactly what Luna originally saw)_ _, then an excitement began to build as what seemed to be a shooting star got bigger and bigger. Excitement slowly turned to_ _blind_ _panic a_ _nd_ _it was finally Pansy Parkinson who screamed, "I_ _T'S COMING RIGHT AT US_ _,_ _ARE YOU ALL BLOODY MORONS,_ _WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE_ _"! She than made a mad dash to the Black Lake and tried to jump in to get away from the shooting star. Tried_ _being the optimal word_ _, as the Giant Squid grabbed her_ _by the ankle_ _out of mid-air and deposited her back on the shore. He/she/it didn't want anything that ugly polluting_ _it's_ _home and_ _hunting grounds_ _._

 _At about fifty meters the fireball suddenly stopped and the fire dissipated revealing a gleaming silver flying saucer_ _shaped disc_ _that slowly descended onto the grounds of Hogwarts._ _After about fifteen intense minutes a ramp slowly extended from the saucer and a giantess,_ _in a silver jumpsuit,_ _walked down and stood staring at the assembled crowd. It was a Ravenclaw, Muggle-raised, Half-blood (Su Li) who started the chant, "Gort, Gort, Gort, Gort". The students fell silent as Headmaster Dumbledore approached the giantess and raising his wand uttered the phrase "_ _Klaatu Barada Nikto"_

 _At the utterance of the Headmaster a dozen thin, waif like "people" came scurry_ _ing out of the U.F.O. and seemed to seek protection behind the Giantess. It was obvious that these "people" could never_ _c_ _ompete in th_ _e Tri-Wizard Tournament,_ _they were dressed to play parts in The Nutcracker Suite not participate in a life or death tournament in late Fall_ _and early Winter_ _in Northern Scotland._ _T_ _hen a horrible stench filled the air and a great ripping noise (like meat being torn from the bone) was heard._ _Everyone assumed it was Ron Weasley before remembering that he's already been kicked out of Hogwarts._ _The ship began shuddering an_ _d then the door seemed to enlarge and disgorge_ _one of the ugliest creatures ever seen by man or beast. Imagine Princess Fiona from Shrek 4, now imagine that she'd been taking steroids for the last fifteen years and somewhere along the way took an ax blade full to the face and survived. YES, you are correct, it was a seventeen year old female Ogre dressed in a little pink tutu, spo_ _r_ _ting a pair of fake fairy wings on her back,_ _a plastic wand in her hand_ _and what appeared to be a necklace made of ears. She was almost as big as Haggrid_ _but_ _she had a_ _much_ _better bear_ _d._ _The Headmistress of Beauxbatons, Madame Maxime introduced her a_ _s_ _their star athlete Fleur Delacour. As she was being introduce Fleur swatted a bird out of mid-air and popped it in her mouth like a tic-tac._

 _Harry and Hermione moved over to the edge of the crowd, "Well this is definitely different,_ _if she doesn't win does she eat the other competitors_ _, not that it matter_ _s_ _as I will_ _be_ _safely on the sidelines cheering for the Hogwarts Champion_ _". Hermione was almost laughing as she responded "If that's what_ _Beauxbatons_ _is entering in the tournament I m_ _ay just go hide in the castle_ _before_ _Durmstrang_ _arrives". Harry looked at her evilly for a moment than began laughing himself. He took Hermione's hand and they made their escape from the welcoming committee back to the castle hand in hand, where they found a cozy little spot t_ _o_ _snog in until the rest of the student body returned._

 _Had they stayed Harry and Hermione would have seen the spectacular arrival of the Durmstrang contingent. A twenty foot high by twenty foot wide "curtain" seemed to shimmer into existence in front of the Black Lake and after several minutes solidified into a doorway allowing the Durmstrang students to enter our Earth from theirs. Their world was similar to ours with one major difference_ _their particular_ _Axis_ _A_ _ngle caus_ _ed_ _a_ _n_ _Orbital W_ _obble that meant that even though their school was located in Hawaii it was_ _still_ _located in one of the coldest regions on their planet. The only student they brought with them was Victor Krum and he was brought through the curtain on a gurney with more machines hooked up to him than they had in all of St. Mungos. When Dumbledore asked about Krum, Igor told him that on the_ _ir_ _world he_ _wa_ _s so rich_ _from playing Quidditch_ _that (for tax purposes) he'_ _d be_ _spending the time before the Tournament Dead. Igor assured both schools and Tournament officials that by the time the Tri-Wizard started Victor would be fine. The three schools then made their way back to the castle and the Great Hall for_ _the Arrival Feast. When they got there, Luna was already seated at the Ravenclaw table surrounded by three tubs of pudding,_ _butterscotch_ _, chocolate and_ _L_ _eprechaun. Harry and Hermione never made it to the Feast that night finding their little hidey-hole was all they needed._

 _They missed the Headmasters speech about the glories and dangers of the Tournament and how those chosen would have Eternal Glory, all the while not mentioning that what was the use of Eternal Glory if you were to_ _o_ _dead to enjoy it. He then told the students, "The Cup will be placed in the Trophy Room off the Main Entrance_ _until dinner on th 31_ _st_ _,_ _and any and all eligible participants may place their names in at any time". He eagerly scanned the_ _Gryffindor_ _t_ _able hoping to catch Harry's eye and see if he (Harry) would enter on his own. Dumbledore's face visibly dropped when he could not find Harry anywhere in the Great Hall, he also not_ _e_ _d that Hermione was missing as well and knew that he'_ _d_ _have to implement another of his plans to get Harry into the Tri-Wizard Tournament._

 _Harry and Hermione left there hiding place shortly before curfew with_ _their_ _clothes mussed, hair needing a brush and skin definitely flush. They were met by Luna_ _(the Castle loves Luna and allows her access to anywhere she needs to go, even going so far that if it's after curfew it makes up a room for her wherever she is)_ _as they entered the Tower and after taking seats by the fire were told what they had missed at the feast. Luna even told them about the Headmaster looking crestfallen when he could not locate Harry in the Great Hall. Then with a devilish smile on her face asked the couple if she could use their "spot" for someone special? Harry thought about warning Neville but both Luna and Hermione gave him the "look" and he decided it would be more fun to kid Neville afterwards._

 _Through the strategic use of glamors, and the fact that he hadn't been seen on the streets in like fifteen years, Sirius Black was allowed outside the Granger Manor as long as he was accompanied by someone. That "someone" was more often than not Amelia Bones, she used these sessions to get more information as to what happened to the Potters and_ _Sirius and_ _what part Dumbledore had played in their demise. However after the fourth session, Emma noticed that both Sirius and Amelia were dressing nicer and both_ _appeared much happier_ _in the company of the other_ _. Emma was fairly certain that after His trial Harry's classmate Susan Bones was going to have a new uncle._

 _Emma e_ _nliste_ _d_ _the help of Dan, Daniella and the House Elves to secretly spy on the couple so that she could plan their wedding in advance. To this end she let Harry and Hermione in on what was happening and asked them to find out if Susan was okay with this development. Hermione asked Susan and Hannah, her BFF, to walk with her one day after Herbology. As they walked she filled them in on what had been happening back at the Manor. At first Susan was appalled that her Aunt might be falling for a mass murderer, but once she found out the true story was much more accepting and after taking an oath to keep it secret wanted to know how she and Hannah could help._

 _Dan and Emma had their own news to give the children when they came home for the New Year Party. It seems that through either magic or a miracle Hermione was going to have a little brother... and sister. When Amelia heard she insisted that Emma go to St Mungos and see Healer Abbott, that's where it was discovered that it was twins and that both had strong magical cores._ _With the help of Amelia, Sirius and the Manor "staff" names were picked out, for the girl they would honor Harry's mother and the last Matriarch of House Granger and for the boy they would honor Emma and Dan's fathers. On June 4_ _th_ _at 1:12 and 1:15 pm they would welcome Daniella Lily Granger and_ _Nigel_ _Patrick Granger into the world and their lives._

 _Harry and Hermione's list of friends seemed to be growing every day and from every House. Any day of the week they could be seen with not only Millie and Greg but also Daphne, Tracie and Blaize from Slytherin as well as Neville, Susan and Hannah from Hufflepuff, Luna and Padma from Ravenclaw and Dean, Seamus, Lavandar and Pavrati and the rest of the Weasleys of Gryffindor. The large group often studied together and would help lower years if asked. Several of the Prof.'s notic_ _ing_ _such a dramatic change in student behavior_ _thought_ _that at first it might be a Weasley Prank._ _w_ _hen it turned out not to be they were more than happy to give points to the students regardless of House._

 _Dumbledore sat in his office, fingers steepled before him, he was quite happy with the way things were beginning to fall_ _back_ _into place. At first he wasn't sure, Harry came back from the Summer Holidays not only married but emancipated as well. This worked in favor of Albus as he knew that only adults (seventeen and older) were going to be allowed to enter the Tournament, and conveniently Harry was now considered an adult. He still had to find a way to break the marriage and remove Lady Hermione Jane Granger-_ _Potter_ _from not only her title and money but her life as well._

 _How had he not foreseen this problem, maybe he really was getting to old for all of this._ _No, once Voldemort was resurrected, using Harry's blood, at the end of the Tourney that would realign the power structure with Albus Dumbledore one more at the top. He would use this new found power to discredit both Potter and Granger (and anyone else stupid enough to get in his way) and add their Seats, Titles and Wealth to his own. Even before he removed the stain of Tom Riddle/Lord Voldemort he would be known as the Greatest Wizard, not just since Merlin but, of All Time._

 _Molly sat in a corner of Dumbledore's office unmoving, unnoticed and uncared for._ _She was no longer even allowed to be seen in the castles hallways and had a room near the Headmasters office. The room had three door one lead to a bathroom, one lead to the Headmasters office and the last one was a passage down into the kitchens so she could cook for him. Molly was incensed to the point that for the first time in a very long time she was thinking clearly. She had listened to Albus Dumbledore all those years ago and it had all come back to bite her on the arse._

 _The children (Harry and Hermione) weren't the problem, it had been and still was the Headmaster and all his grand schemes, anything to get someone else to do his dirty work for him. Well she'd try and put things right, even if it meant going to prison for a while. Molly had been listening to all of Albus' conversations_ _(he talked out loud because he loved the sound of his own voice)_ _and been collecting any and all bits she could find that pointed to the truth of what the Headmaster really was. She'd been sending it to the Goblins to verify under the condition that once verified they would send it_ _on_ _to Amelia Bones and that Albus Dumbledore would be brought_ _to justice_ _._

 _Griphook was receiving and uncovering so much about Dumbledore that he was allowed to hire three more Goblins just to keep up with the overflow of information. They found out that a certain ghost Prof. hadn't been paid since his death, but since Albus became Headmaster Prof. Binns current and accumulated back pay had all gone into a secret account used only by Dumbledore. It would also appear the the Headmaster had, over the years, taken certain "liberties" with some of the older_ _of age_ _students. This had resulted_ _in at least one pregnancy with a student named Prince. It turned out that the reason he would never discipline Prof. Snape was because he was the mans Father. As far as the Goblins could tell Prof. Snape never found out that Tobias Snape was not his real father._

 _Albus had also been "Cooking the Books" for years, the money for new, safer, brooms for the school had gone into one of his discretionary funds._ _Other items that made it to the slush fund was money for new books that did not come off of one of Dumbledores Presses and went against what he'd been brainwashing the student body with for over fifty years. The worst was funneling away the money for a new venting system and safety procedures for the Potions Labs that would have saved many students from even having to go see Madame Pomfrey in the first place._

 _Ragnok_ _was not happy, and the only thing scarier than a happy Goblin was an unhappy Goblin._ _He had just received intelligence that raised the hackles on his neck_ _(Goblins really do have hackles on their necks and they work a little like "spidey sense"_ _in that they actually raise off the neck alerting them to danger, just another reason Goblins are so damn hard to kill)._ _It seems that, while they knew Albus was planning to enter Harry in the Tournament, Voldemort had an as yet_ _unknown spy in Hogwarts that was also working on a plan to get Harrys name into the Goblet of Fire._ _He also needed to tell Lady Granger that Dumbledore was_ _working on a_ _plan to discredit and kill both her and Harry_ _absorbing their Titles, Seats and wealth into the Dumbledore name._ _Ragnok was thinking that the end of the school year might_ _not be soon enough_ _for the Potters and Grangers,_ _maybe_ _they should move_ _the schedule up to the end of the year,_ _or sooner, if they could;_ _h_ _e'_ _d_ _let_ _the two_ _know and_ _the_ _y'd_ _make plans from there._

 _Ron Dumbledore, or Dumbo as he was known in the gang, was in trouble! He was desperately trying to re-enter the Magical World._ _It seems that he'd been skimming from the packages he carried almost from the first day he'd started running with the gang. A small amount of skimming was almost accepted, a couple of grams here or there for personal use, a few bucks to get you through a rough patch, these they could and did ignore. When a quarter to a third of the product game up missing and the same with the money, that's when they could no longer look the other way. Dumbo was to be brought in alive to answer the allegations brought against him._

 _Ron thought he was safe, steal from a criminal and what were they going to do... call the police_ _!_ _Now he was hiding in the Leaky Cauldron trying to sneak into Diagon Alley and away from the knife and gun toting members of the gang._ _He_ _had_ _never met the leader of the gang so he was unaware that the kind, attractive woman who had just bought him a meal and a butterbeer was also the head of the criminal organization that he was running from._

 _She seemed genuinely interested in Ron's troubles and asked him if he'd like to earn a few Galleons by running an errand for her. "_ _My names Mati and I have some business that I need to take care of down Knockturn Alley, while I'm doing that would you be a dear and take this note to Gringotts and get some money for me". Ron happily agreed and took the note from Mati. She stopped him just before he went through the door, "Ron, we'll meet back here in say... an hour, I'll buy you supper and give you the ten Galleons we've agreed on". Ron nodded yes and left the Leaky Cauldron towards Gringotts as Mati headed towards Knockturn Alley._

 _Ron walked into Gringotts as he had most of his life, as if the Goblins had been placed here for his amusement. Mr. Troll", Ron began, "I would like to make a...". "It's Anklebiter, sir, an_ _d_ _I'm a Goblin not a troll". A very small, very evil looking Goblin with a voice so squeaky that all things made of glass in his immediate area would begin to tremble. If he would speak to_ _o_ _long at any one time the glass would the_ _n_ _shatter, this would not bother Anklebiter or any other Goblin one bit but would truly annoy any and all humans. "Now what can I do for you human"? The crystal on Ron's wristwatch shattered and he thought he saw the Goblin smile ever so slightly. "As I was saying, I have here permission to remove funds from this account". After saying this he passed a note to the Goblin, it read:_

 _I Mati Ha_ _ri_ _g_ _ive permission to the bearer of this note to retrieve the sum total of Vault 1_ _2_ _02_ _(fifteen thousand one hundred and three Galleons, one Sickle and six Knuts)._ _An Ever Full Bag will do nicely._

 _Fo_ _rev_ _e_ _r_ _y_ _o_ _ur servant_ _,_

 _Ma_ _t_ _i_ _H_ _ar_ _i_

 _Ankl_ _e_ _b_ _i_ _t_ _e_ _r_ _r_ _er_ _e_ _a_ _d_ _t_ _h_ _e no_ _te,_ _s_ _o_ _me_ _t_ _h_ _i_ _n_ _g about i_ _t_ _r_ _a_ _n_ _g_ _a b_ _e_ _ll in h_ _i_ _s_ _h_ _ea_ _d._ _A_ _f_ _r_ _act_ _i_ _o_ _n_ _o_ _f a_ _s_ _ec_ _on_ _d_ _l_ _at_ _e_ _r_ _i_ _t ca_ _m_ _e_ _to_ _h_ _i_ _m,_ _t_ _h_ _i_ _s w_ _as o_ _ne of_ _Albus_ _Dumb_ _l_ _ed_ _ores_ _ac_ _c_ _o_ _un_ _t_ _s a_ _n_ _d_ _t_ _he_ _r_ _e w_ _a_ _s_ _a_ _s_ _p_ _ec_ _i_ _a_ _l protocol_ _i_ _n p_ _l_ _ace fo_ _r_ _d_ _eali_ _n_ _g_ _w_ _ith_ _e_ _xactly_ _th_ _is ty_ _p_ _e_ _of_ _inquiry._ _He in_ _v_ _i_ _t_ _ed_ _Ro_ _n_ _aro_ _und_ _the_ _c_ _ount_ _e_ _r_ _and_ _as_ _ke_ _d_ _if he'd_ _c_ _ar_ _e_ _t_ _o_ _w_ _a_ _it_ _in_ _t_ _h_ _e D._ _C_ _.S._ _(Drago_ _n_ _C_ _r_ _ap S_ _h_ _ove_ _l_ _er) Room, he t_ _o_ _l_ _d_ _Ro_ _n_ _i_ _t_ _w_ _a_ _s_ _t_ _h_ _e_ _G_ _obl_ _ins v_ _e_ _r_ _s_ _io_ _n of_ _a V.I._ _P. R_ _oom_ _w_ _hi_ _c_ _h was_ _t_ _ru_ _e b_ _ec_ _a_ _u_ _s_ _e_ _th_ _e_ _Gob_ _li_ _n_ _s d_ _i_ _d_ _n_ _'t b_ _e_ _lieve_ _in_ _V._ _I._ _P.'_ _s. As the doo_ _r_ _cl_ _o_ _s_ _ed_ _behi_ _nd_ _R_ _o_ _n he_ _p_ _ass_ _e_ _d out_ _a_ _nd awoke seve_ _r_ _a_ _l_ _h_ _o_ _u_ _r_ _s_ _l_ _a_ _te_ _r._ _H_ _e_ _was chain_ _e_ _d_ _a_ _ro_ _u_ _n_ _d t_ _h_ _e wa_ _i_ _st, in_ _a_ _s_ _m_ _a_ _l_ _l_ _h_ _a_ _n_ _d c_ _a_ _r_ _v_ _ed_ _h_ _o_ _l_ _e_ _i_ _n_ _t_ _he_ _wa_ _l_ _l. T_ _h_ _e on_ _l_ _y thin_ _gs_ _h_ _e h_ _ad_ _we_ _r_ _e a lo_ _w, s_ _t_ _one_ _b_ _e_ _d,_ _the cl_ _o_ _thes_ _o_ _n_ _h_ _is_ _bac_ _k and_ _a_ _sh_ _ov_ _e_ _l._ _R_ _o_ _n_ _D_ _u_ _m_ _b_ _le_ _d_ _o_ _r_ _e,_ _ne_ _e_ _N_ _o-N_ _a_ _m_ _e,_ _n_ _e_ _e_ _W_ _eas_ _l_ _e_ _y_ _w_ _a_ _s_ _n_ _eve_ _r_ _s_ _e_ _e_ _n o_ _r_ _h_ _e_ _a_ _rd_ _fr_ _o_ _m a_ _g_ _a_ _in_ _(_ _a_ _b_ _o_ _v_ _e the_ _d_ _ra_ _go_ _n_ _p_ _e_ _n_ _s_ _o_ _f_ _G_ _r_ _in_ _g_ _ot_ _t_ _s_ _t_ _h_ _a_ _t i_ _s_ _)._

 _Down Knockturn Alley, in the darkened recesses of a recently burned out building a polyjuice potion began to wear off. Slowly Mati Hari's features started melting and were once stood a very attractive woman, there was now an incredibly ugly old man whose white beard almost swept the ground. The beard clashed garishly with the purple, mid-thigh, off the shoulder dress he was now wearing. Albus was at least happy he'd solved one problem in getting rid of Ron, now all he had to do was figure out a way to get the gang money that was his. All that money was funneled through his brothers pub, and thanks to the Goblins he couldn't give anything to Albus. With a quick turn he was gone, but not before someone who looked a lot like the senior Malfoy asked how much he charged by the hour._

 _Lucius Malfoy had just propositioned the oldest, ugliest, looking prostitute he had ever seen and in a way he was glad that she had apperated away as he was unsure that whatever she would have charged he would have been able to pay._

 _Draco Malfoy, on the other hand, seemed to be on top of the world as the offers from men became more numerous than from women Draco went with the flow and men exclusively. He even started starring in all male porno as The Albino Ferret, and over the next couple of years would make more money than he ever thought possible._ _Alas, fame was both fickle and fleeting and by the time he was twenty-five Draco was washed-up forgotten has-been whose drug and alcohol ladened body would be found by a reporter looking for leads to a story. He was found in an abandoned warehouse that used to be an all male movie studio back in the day._

 _The month of October rushed by and before they knew it the 31_ _st_ _had arrived. The great hall was decked out Mundane style with giant, carved pumpkins and live bats flying around. Each table had its own coffin that would open slightly and a bony hand would slip out, plus a real live h_ _ag_ _attempting to entice_ _t_ _he children to come away with h_ _er_ _. At precisely_ _7:00pm th_ _ose_ _assembled in the Great Hall fell silent as Filtch entered with_ _the Tri-Wizard Cup and placed it in front of the Head Table, he then scurried to the back of the Hall._

 _The Headmaster remained seated for several minutes allowing the tension in the Great Hall to mou_ _nt._ _He slowly rose from his golden, throne like, chair and approached the podium._ _"Honored guests, friends, faculty, and students I thank you all for being here at Hogwarts on this special night_ _",_ _h_ _e said in a whispered voice that carried to every corner of the Hall._ _He raised his right hand and in a sweeping motion all the lights in the Great Hall dimmed, nobody noticed Mr. Filtch pulling the lever that actually caused the lights to dim._ _His voice became louder and the tension built, "Soon, three of you will be chosen to participate_ _in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. His voice got steadily louder, "Three events will test your courage, your intellect... and quite possibly your very sanity"._ _He was almost roaring now, "These events are not for the weak of heart... or mind, remember that Eternal Glory awaits the victor"._

 _While the Headmaster kept speaking,_ _Harry_ _(who_ _appeared to be asleep_ _)_ _was nudged by Hermione_ _who_ _kissed him on the cheek and_ _whispered "Eternal Glory_ _be damned_ _, who cares about Eternal Glory if you're_ _not ALIVE_ _to_ _enjoy_ _it. Besides, name me the last Tri-Wizard Champion_ _and I'll volunteer for this_ _bloody_ _tournament myself_ _"? When after several seconds_ _of thought_ _Harry just shrugged, Hermione said, "Exactly what I'm talking about",_ _as she gave Harry another quick kiss._ _Thirty seconds later,_ _Hermione nudged Harry_ _awake_ _again and pointed to the Cup as it was now cycling through the color spectrum._

 _The w_ _h_ _o_ _le_ _time_ _the Headmaster_ _was_ _talking the Tri-Wizard Cup_ _had been_ _warming up, it was_ _now_ _changing colors. It went from green to red to orange, it seemed to finally settle on an Ice Blue and sent a ten foot Ice Blue Flame into the air before calming once again. The Headmaster turned towards the Cup, "It would appear that we are mere moments away from our first contesta_ _nt"._ _Sure enough, a giant flame erupted from the Cup this time accompanied by a piece of parchment. Albus expertly snatched the parchment from the air and unfolded it. On a black piece of parchment, in black ink,_ _in the blackest hour of the blackest night had been written_ _the name of the first champion. Albus stared bewildered by what he was looking at and after a couple of minutes Igor whispered in his ear. "Ah yes that explains it,_ _our first Champion is from Durmstrang..._ _ **VICTOR KRUM**_ _. Please make way for Mr. Krum, yes just push him right through that door there. Rest assured that Mr. Krum will be alive and ready to participate_ _by the time the first challenge rolls around_ _._ _My isn't this exciting"! The Headmaster giggled like a little girl._

 _The entire school gasped as the Cup spewed fire once more into the air and the Headmaster plucked a dainty, doily like, parchment from the amongst the flames. "Yes,_ _this_ _second Champion should come as no surprise (as nobody else from her school_ _was brave enough to_ _have_ _entered their name). Please clear the aisle for the Beauxbatons Champion..._ _ **MISS**_ _ **FLEUR**_ _ **DELECOUR**_ _"._ _None of the students had to be told a second time as it looked like the parting of the Red Sea as Miss Delecour,_ _her fake wing_ _s_ _fluttering and her plastic wand aglow,_ _approached_ _the Head Table_ _and made her way towards the door indicated._

 _"There goes our second Champion, now only Hogwarts awaits who the Cup will choose". No one else seemed to notice that the whole time he was talking, the Headmaster was staring at Harry. No one that is except Harry and Hermione who_ _now_ _gripped each others hand and awaited the verdict as the Cup launched its third and final flame/parchment into the air of the Great Hall._ _The parchment flew into the air and than seemed to be drawn to the Headmaster as he barely needed to move to catch it in his hand. He unfolded the parchment and read, "Please put your hands together for_ _our third and final Champion_ _in the Tri-Wizard Tournament..._ _Hogwarts own_ _Hufflepuff (Harry and Hermione relaxed,_ _releasing the breath neither realized they'd been holding,_ _at hearing that)..._


	7. Chapter 7

"Hogwarts own Hufflepuff... **C** **EDRIC** **D** **IGGORY** ". The Hufflepuff Table erupted into chaos at the announcement of Cedric as the third Champion, the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor Tables were slightly more subdued and there were even a few boos from Slytherin. "Cedric, if you'd make your way up here, that's it son, now please join the other two champions just through those doors.

As the applause for Cedric died down Dumbledore continued, "Now that we have our three Champions, lets give a round of applause for those that entered but were not chosen. This applause was as louder or louder than it had been for the Champions. After only a few seconds though it started slowing down and people began to murmur amongst themselves and point. If anyone other than Hermione had been paying attention this is when they would have noticed Harry slipping on his pair of Joo Janto 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses, and watching them kick in and turn completely black; they also would have noticed his completely relaxed attitude towards any impending danger. With a knowing twinkle in his eyes, Dumbledore turned to face the, once again, glowing Goblet of Fire. It's flames turned Ice Blue and in a brilliant burst of magic an unprecedented fourth piece of parchment shot out of the _**TRI**_ -Wizard Cup and into the air.

He caught the piece of parchment just as easily as the others and unfolded it, trying not to appear happy and to sound disappointed at the same time, read... " **HARRY POTTER** " "Will Harry Potter please come up here." After waiting a couple of seconds, and seeing no movement from the student body, Dumbledores voice became a shout...

" _ **H**_ _ **ARRY**_ _ **P**_ _ **OTTER**_ "

Hermione nudged Harry out of shock and he began to stand. "Go on Harry, we'll figure this out just like we've figured everything else out so far." Harry took off his really cool sunglasses and looked at his wife and she could see a resolve pass before his eyes. As he handed her his invisibility cloak and sun glasses, he spoke to her, "No Hermione, I, that is, We are going to end this now, be ready for anything as I'm not sure what I'm doing or what is going to happen." As Hermione took the cloak and glasses she nodded and discreetly slid her wand out of its wrist holster and into her hand as Harry began to move towards the, soon to be former, Headmaster.

Harry moved toward the Head Table where Albus Dumbledore and the Heads of the of the other schools were staring at his approach. As Harry passed, "Harry," Dumbledore spoke only loud enough so that Harry could hear him, "this is for the Greater Good, it's the way things have to be, you'll understand some day." In a louder voice, so everyone could hear him, he continued. "Now go through the doors on the right and join the other Champions." Harry just smiled at the man and in an voice that confused Dumbledore and chilled his blood said, "No old man, this is for Your Personal Greater Good and this ends now, I hope you've said good-bye to any loved ones and hello to any god or gods you may worship."

Harry continued past his former Headmaster towards the doors indicated. Instead of going right through the doors, he made a left and walked to the middle of the Head Table and, pulling his wand out, jumped up on the table and shouted for all to hear. "This is My Wizards Oath, if it is found lacking than so am I and magic will punish me for it. I, Harry James Potter, do hereby swear by, on, and unto magic that I did not enter my name, have someone else enter my name, or in any way, shape, or form have anything to do with my name being put into the Tri-Wizard Cup or being drawn as a "Champion" for your amusement in this blood sport of a tournament. LUMINOS MAXIMUS." The light that came from Harry's wand was bright enough to cause the entire Great Hall to close their eyes and even after Harry canceled the spell most would still see spots for several minutes.

Dumbledore was the first to recover, "Harry, my boy, what, what have you done?", he said in his best grandfatherly, you should be ashamed of yourself, voice. "The Goblet of Fire is a binding magical contract, your oath, while it might prove your innocence, will not get you out of competing in the Tournament." "I know Albus", Harry spit out the name with as much venom as he could, "and I have a plan for dealing with that as well. In fact the Goblet is going to help me out of the Tournament."

Harry jumped off the table and began walking towards the Goblet ignoring all faculty and students. He never saw Dumbledore reach for his wand, however he did see what appeared to be a very powerful stunner fly over his right shoulder and seconds later felt and heard the former Headmasters wand sail over the same shoulder and into the hands of his lovely, and (thankfully) overly protective wife. Hermione Jane Granger-Potter was now the new master of the Elder Wand, and in possession of two of the three Deathly Hollows.

Harry continued walking until he was in front of the Goblet, then reaching out he grabbed both handles and stated, "I, Harry James Potter, ask the inherent magic of the Goblet of Fire to right the wrongs that have been presented here this night and to bring forward and punish those who would subvert Its magic". Harry and the Goblet both began glowing an eerie Ice Blue as tendrils of magic started to whip around the Great Hall.

The magic of the Goblet seemed to shoot out everywhere, striking "Mad Eye" Moody and instantly picking him up and reverting him back to Barty Crouch Jr., one struck Dumbledore just as he started to recover from Hermione's stunner as others swept out of the Great Hall. In a brilliant flash of that same Ice Blue light, a ring, locket, diadem, small silver cup, Voldemort's snake Nagali, and Voldemort himself appeared suspended in the magic of the Goblet. No one even noticed the tendril that struck under the Gryffindor table and stabbed a nine toed rat as it tried to scurry out of the Great Hall. A final tendril of magic shot out of the Goblet stabbing Harry in his infamous scar and lifting him off the ground as well.

What everyone in the Great Hall saw was the ring, locket, diadem and cup shimmer before a small black ball seeped out of each item. The balls floated in the air for several seconds before joining into a single sphere and shooting into Voldemort's chest. The ring, locket, diadem and cup fell to the ground. The stone from the ring, instead of falling like the other items, shot through the air and was caught by Hermione, with the practiced ease of being married to a seasoned seeker. In a flash of the same Ice Blue magic of the Goblet of Fire, Hermione Jane Granger-Potter (the new Mistress of Death) and five others vanished from the Great Hall.

Hermione appeared in a stylized courtroom, she was in the judges box and before her in five chairs and a cage sat Harry, Albus, Wormtail, Barty Jr and Lord Voldemort, Nagali lay in the cage apparently asleep. After several minutes of trying to change his chair into something more comfortable, Albus Dumbledore sighed and sat in the plain, straight backed, wooden chair.

Having sat patiently through Albus's failed attempt to regain control of the situation, Hermione finally spoke in a voice that chilled everyone to the bone. "I am the Mistress of Death, I am your Judge, Jury and if need me executioner. It is my duty to judge your souls and send you on to your next Great Adventure, if that is what you deserve. I will start with the lowest offenses and work to the highest."

In perfect Parseltounge Hermione began, "Nagali, your only offense is to have been turned into a soul anchor for the wizard known to you as Voldemort, was this of your own choosing?" "No Mistress, I was a simple serpent, non poisonous, I escaped from the man who bought me and just wanted to catch some mice and try to stay warm during the long Scottish Winter. The Speaker did something to me, binding me to Himself, making what you see before you now. I would like nothing more than to return to my life before the Speaker." hissed Nagali. "Then that is what you shall get." Hermione lifted her hand and with a simple summoning gesture pulled the soul fragment from Nagali and returned it to Voldemort. With another gesture Nagali disappeared and found itself returned to its original size and purpose slithering through the Forbidden Forest, once again free.

Death turned to face Harry, "Harry James Potter, I remove the fragment of Voldemort's soul that resides in your cursed scar and return it to its original vessel." With a gesture a black blob burst from Harry's forehead and slammed into Voldemort's chest. "With that done, I ask you what should be done with you? You killed a man and destroyed a piece of another's soul, that piece I now return." A black blob appeared out of nothing and for the final time slammed into the chest of Voldemort. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"What I did was in defense of my own life or that of an innocent, I felt regret at the time it happened and feel regret at taking another's life every day. I make no excuses for what I have done and take full responsibility for my actions and for the results of my actions. I accept whatever penalty you see fit to give me."

The Mistress of Death spoke, "Because you had no other choice and you feel remorse for your actions, your life has been judged and your slate has been cleared. What has happened was set in motion long before you were born, You reacted better than most would have in a similar situation. You will go from here to make what you will of your life, but for now I ask that you remain and bear witness to the fates of the four left before me." Harry accepted as Death continued.

"Peter Pettigrew A.K.A. Wormtail, you betrayed your friends for no other reason then jealousy! You were Jealous of Remus's brains, Sirius's looks and James for his magic, then along came Lily who had all of that and more. They protected you when you would not protect yourself, they called you family. You were like brothers, there was nothing they wouldn't do for you. Why did you betray them? What did they do to make you hate them so"?

"The Dark Lord has powers undreamed of, he came into my head and showed me what the others really thought of me. They never cared for me, I was simply the butt of their jokes, I was their fall guy"! "How many detentions did you ever serve Wormtail, James and Sirius took the blame so that YOU would not have to. Remus was supposed to be a calming influence on those two, but they corrupted him and you enjoyed the benefits of their work. How long did it take you to become an Animagus? Did they abandon you? No, they worked with you so that all four of you could be together".

"You seem to want to blame everyone but who should be blamed. You, Wormtail, are to blame for your own shortcomings. Your fate has been decided, you will relive your life and next we meet we'll see what you have learned".

Peter awoke as if from a long sleep and looked around his nest. His NEST? Yes, his nest, Death did not say he would relive his life as a human, just that he was to relive his life. He stretched his wings and flapping them found he got lift and could fly. Peter looked around and noticed that he seemed to be on the grounds of Hogwarts, than he saw a large group of students gathered by the lake and decided to find out what was happening down there. On his first pass he flew to high and could not hear what was being said so on his second pass he made sure to fly lower. Just as he began to hear what was being said, a huge hand shot into the air and stunned him. The last thing he saw was the ugliest female Ogre the world has ever seen, dressed in a pink tutu with fake fairy wings on her back and a plastic wand in her hand wearing a necklace of ears, pop him in her mouth like a tic-tac; though he did think she had a very nice beard.

"Barty Crouch Jr. what have you to say for yourself, torture and murder and that was just your fist night as a Deatheater?" "There is nothing for me to say, the Dark Lord asked it of me and I was more than willing to serve. What I did, I did for my Lord and Master. If he were to ask me now, I would do it all over again. My only regret was that I was caught before I could kill more." Turning to look at his Master, "Forgive me my Lord for failing you."

"Barty Crouch Jr. you have been found... Wanting, and your immortal soul is forfeit. You shall spend eternity in the deepest levels of Hell never knowing rest, never knowing comfort. I will waste no more energy on you, BEGONE." Barty Crouch Jr. simply disappeared with a silent scream on his lips.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle, for that's who you now are, with your Horcux destroyed and you soul once more in one piece, you are no longer that foul, self made moniker Lord Voldemort. I will give you a choice Tom, a chance to show compassion or regret for any of your victims and your soul will be cleansed and you may start your next Great Adventure free from any taint. Continue with your current beliefs and by the time we are finished here Hogwarts and the World will have forgotten about you, you will not even be a footnote on the pages of history. It will simply read that some unknown, no-name Dark Lord wannabe tried and failed to take over Magical Britannia. I leave the decision to you Tom, what do you choose?"

A much younger looking Tom Riddle (eyes no longer red but brown, he had a nose once more and his skin had a healthy tone) lifted his head to speak, "Do you really think that I Lo, Lo...", he couldn't say his own made up name. "The Greatest Wizard that will ever have walked this planet, would be content just to move on? NEVER, I will find a way to return to the Mortal Realm and finish my conquest of first Britannia than the world. For I have gone further than any wizard or witch has ever gone to ensure that I will never be defeated or forgotten."

"That is where you're wrong Tom", the voice sounding more sympathetic, more like Hermione's own, than Deaths. "Harry has beaten you every time the two of you have met. He's beaten you as a baby, as an eleven and twelve year old, and if we count this then that brings us to four, (the third time in the last four years) and he's only fourteen years old Tom. Even now the general populace is forgetting about you, Magical and Mundane alike can no longer remember what you look like or your deeds, oh people will still have died however now it was because of a house fire, car wreck, gas explosion, accident and even old age. You, Tom Marvolo Riddle, will not be remembered as the cause of any of their pain and suffering. I can and do take that power from you."

"You have made your choice Tom, because your life was not an easy one I was willing to clear your slate and allow you to move on to the next Great Adventure. Like Harry, things happened to you that were out of your control, before you were born and while growing up. Unlike Harry, you would not, could not, look past the bad to see what the good had to give you. Because you have refused to show any remorse or any feelings at all for your past actions your immortal soul is forfeit and any and all traces of your existence will be removed from history, you no longer exist Tom, this is the price you must pay". The being formally known as Tom Marvolo Riddle faded from existence and from the collective minds of the world.

At that precise moment, all over the world, every marked disciple of the Dark Lord Voldemort felt a searing, stabbing pain in their left arm. In Hogwarts, Prof. Snape along with eleven sixth and seventh years (five Slytherin, and three each from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor) felt this pain. Each pulled up the sleeve of their robes to reveal that the dark mark was longer there. What they, and most of the other previously marked Death-Eaters, wouldn't learn until slightly later was that since their tattoos were connected to Voldemort their magic had gone away at the same time the Dark Lord and dark mark had disappeared, along with all knowledge of who they had served. They remembered doing the crime, but not in who's name they did it. These once proud Death-Eaters were now no better than the Squibs and Mundanes they professed to despise so much. Their families would have to decide wither to still accept them or banish them from the Magical World.

Turning to the final chair Death stared at Albus Dumbledore, but before she could say anything Albus spoke in an offended voice. "You said from least to worst, you can not sit in judgment of me and say that I am worse than a mad man, a Dark Wizard, a man that killed without thought or compassion for his fellow man, I've never killed anyone in my entire life."

"That is a lie and you know it Albus, you are well aware that it was your curse that struck and killed your sister, (his head snapped back as if he'd been slapped across the face and went ashen as it looked like he was going to be sick down the front of his robes). Your pettiness that's what caused the death of a child that only wanted everyone to stop fighting. True, after that you, personally never killed again, you always found someone else to kill for you, then you would guilt trip them into hating what you asked them to do. You were complacent in the deaths of hundreds of thousands, by not taking on your former lover Grindlewald decades earlier. You were almost to late and if he hadn't thought you were going to join him he may have fought harder and won". As Death spoke the ghost of Albus's sister appeared near him along with Grindlewald and everyone that he (Grindlewald) had killed. Still Death spoke on as more ghosts appeared before the supposed "Leader of the Light".

"What about all those that died because you erroneously thought their killers deserved a second, third or even fourth chance. What about the victims Albus, didn't they deserve another chance as well. You had ample chances to remove Tom before he caused to much trouble, but saw him as your pet project, your crowning achievement, something not even Merlin had achieved, a redeemed Dark Lord. Rest assured Albus, we're almost done there."

"I just want to reintroduce you to some other "old friends" you might remember. Do James and Lily Potter ring a bell, what about Frank and Alice Longbottom? You heard a prophecy and deduced that of all of the hundreds of Magical children that would be born during the end of July that it had to be either the Longbottom or Potter child. YOU had the families go into hiding, if you were so worried why did you not bring them to Hogwarts, there was plenty of room even with school in session, plus they would have only been a Floo call away from the Aurors and St. Mungos."

"The consensus of most of the Sentient Magicals in the know about such things (and there are a lot Albus, if you'd only of asked) is that the prophecy was fulfilled that first Halloween night that Harry removed Tom from the living, but you being the all knowing, all seeing Albus Dumbledore decided it wasn't over. You sent an innocent man to Azkaban and sealed a parents will just to gain control and to manipulate a small child. Is this the way you envisioned the end of Tom, Albus, or did you have something more "Grand" in mind?"

Albus looked like he'd been sucker punched and was doing one of the best "fish out of water" imitations Death had seen in many a year. "Of course Harry has to die for Tom Riddle to be gone for good! Then with Harry dead and Voldemort mortal again, I would appear and kill him in the name of Harry Potter and would pass away as an even greater wizard than Merlin." Albus said regaining his composure, "You heard him, he's gone further than anyone else ever did to make himself immortal, so whatever you did is only postponing the inevitable. HARRY POTTER MUST DIE FOR LORD VOLDEMORT TO BE FINALLY AND PERMENTLY LAID TO REST!" Albus stood and shouted the last part as if it would convince Death that he was right. As Hermione/Death just stared at Albus he slowly lost his courage and slumped back into his chair.

"So the great Albus Dumbledore knows better than Death itself... Albus Percival Wilfred Brian Dumbledore, your hubris seems to know no bounds. Even while you are in my realm you refuse to see the truth and substitute your own reality in its place. So that shall be your punishment, you will live your fantasy life in the world you have created in your mind. You shall no longer be a menace to yourself or others and no-one shall be able to bring you back. At the moment of your death you will have perfect clarity and know that what you thought was right was actually wrong and I shall judge you again that day to see where your next Great Adventure will take you." With that Albus shimmered out of Death's realm leaving only Harry and, the Mistress of Death herself, Hermione.

Harry heard a throat clear, and spun around to face three figures that hadn't left when Dumbledore did his disappearing act. Two he recognized from the Mirror of Erised as his mum and dad, and the third he finally came to realize was the one, true Death. Harry hesitated for a moment until he saw Hermione smile and nod, then ran foward and was embraced by his parents.

The three cried together until Lily Potter looked up and waved Hermione to the small group. As Hermione approached, Lily reached out and taking her hand pulled Hermione into a crushing hug. "Thank you Hermione for looking after my son so well. No mother could ask for a better daughter-in-law than what you have given us." She was joined by James and Harry as a three way hug and cry fest turned into a four way.

A deep baritone that would have put Barry White to shame interrupted their group hug. "Hermione Jane Granger-Potter, Mistress of Death, for the good that you did today I grant you one boon of your choosing." Hermione and the Potters huddled together to come up with a request for Death. Finally they seemed to reach a consensus, Hermione took out the Elder wand and the resurrection stone and presented them to Death. "We thought about asking for the return of Harry's parents, but how would we explain this to the Wizarding World, we would be accused of being Necromancers. Then Harry would have to suffer all over again as one day they would pass away once more. Instead we ask that you allow us to retain the Cloak of Invisibility as a Potter Heirloom as it is the least dangerous of the Hallows. The Elder wand and the Resurrection Stone are too dangerous for humans to possess. We feel that for what you are offering that this is our best option."

"You have made an excellent choice, I would have granted you anything that you asked for. Your reasoning is sound, the Elder wand and Resurrection Stone only lead to more death. The Invisibility Cloak has never caused a death (looking at James) only mischief. You have another choice to make Harry Potter, you and your wife may stay here with your parents, you may stay and your wife go to be with her parents, and finally you may both return and see what life has in store for you."

"When do you need our answer? Is it possible We could spend a couple of days getting to know a little about my family? I already know what my final choice will be, but I would still like to talk it over with Hermione and my parents." "Then that is what you shall have Harry Potter," said Death's baritone voice, "48 hours in my world is no more than a breath in Yours, I will return to get your final decision, until then use this time to get to know your family once more". Harry nodded and Death just simply ceased to be. Over the next 48 hours James and Lily got reacquainted with their son and his bride. They laughed as they exchanged stories of their Hogwarts years. James and Lily were angry with Dumbledore for his treatment of Harry and terrified when they were told about the basilisk, but were very proud that Harry always seemed to do what was right and not what was easy.

Soon enough the 48 hours were up and Death appeared. "So have you reconsidered your choice Harry Potter?" "No Sir, I have not. While I would love to remain with my parents, I could never ask Hermione to give up hers, and I know I'll see them again some day." Hermione continued, "And I would never willing leave Harry here and return to my parents." Together they said, "We choose to remain together and see what the rest of our lives will be like."

What the students and teachers saw in the Great Hall that night was this. As Harry approached the Goblet of Fire Dumbledore pulled his wand, but Hermione was faster and stunned and disarmed the Headmaster. Then Harry grabbed the cup, magic flames shot out and some trinkets showed up. What caused the real uproar was the appearance of the little, ugly, baby Voldemort and his snake. Chaos reigned for several minutes as spells came from every direction at the snake and Voldemort, but stopped when all the spells were absorbed by the magic of the cup. Then the trinkets fell to the ground as a black mist left them and shot into Voldemort, nobody noticed the stone fly to Hermione or, moments later, when she disappeared.

Several more minutes passed before they were astounded as first the snake faded from view, then Harry visibly relaxed yet retained his death grip on the Goblet. The Voldemort/baby thing started shaking then strangely everyone seemed to forget it was there at all and no-one could remember what it looked like, where it may have gone or if there had really ever been something there at all. The strangest thing was when Albus just stood up and started sprouting gibberish that was no language anyone knew.

Hermione walked over to Harry and got him to release his hold on the Goblet and placing a hand on his shoulder led him toward the exit to the Great Hall and out of the castle proper for an extended weekend of rest and relaxation. As they were leaving it was Colin Creavy that could be heard shouting... **The Goblet of Fire... Fire, Fire, the Goblets on Fire.**

The Goblet had burst into flames and consumed itself in its own magical fire. Without a Goblet there was no tournament and no binding contracts, the three Champions were elated to hear they would not have to compete in events that had a 73% mortality rate (well the one that was the most human, and not dead, was elated, Fleur still wanted to eat... beat something up). Instead, with the agreement of all three schools, a series of events were held for all students seventeen or older (only fair seeing as Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had only brought of age students/creatures themselves). The end result, surprisingly enough, was that nobody cared who won. Each school won its share of competitions, all the students were friendly and happy and each school went away with a better understanding of the others, yeah right and if frogs could fly they wouldn't bump there asses when the jumped. But that's a story for another time.

 **Alt ending#1**

Fleur is enraged that there is no Tournament and goes crazy destroying most of Great Britain. It's only with the help of all the Aurors, Hit-Wizards, Her Majesties Royal Navy, the Hulk and Iron-Man in his Hulk-Buster armor that they were able to subdue her. She now roams free on Monster Island terrorizing Godzilla, Godzooki and those two really little women that sing not to mention the rest of the Japanese movie monsters, Yes, she's very happy.

 **Alt ending#2**

With no Tournament there's no reason to wake Krum from the Dead. The Headmistress of Beauxbatons slaughters a cow and put enough barbiturates in it to stun the state of Texas. This just slows down Fleur enough to get her back into the saucer craft where they fire her into the sun. On clear days when the sun is out, if you use a telescope you'll (burn your eyeballs out staring at the sun through a telescope) see the People of the Sun trying to reverse engineer the saucer craft so they can capture Fleur and send her back here. Pray they never figure it out in your lifetime.

 **Alt ending#3**

Without a Tournament Fleur wants something to remember Scotland, that something is Cedric. She kidnaps Cedric but on their way back to France they detour though Italy where Cedric is bitten by a shiny vampire. He escapes Fleur before they reach France and makes his way to America, specifically Washington State. Where he changes his name to Edward and pretends to be a high school senior forever. That is until he meets this only slightly attractive, clumsy, uncoordinated girl (whose hippie mother can't handle her being so straight laced and sends her to live with her father) and falls madly in love with her. But that's a story I'll only tell at Twilight.

HarryPotterismygodhahahaonlyjokingbutmagicisreallyreal

 **A/N:** The epilogue is next and hopefully it will be as good as I feel the rest of the story was (well hopefully better than that, but we'll just have to wait and see what you think). Remember, please read and review and that two wrongs don't make a right but three lefts do. See you on Chapter 3 of Dead Again, bye-bye.


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